Top 14. Paul Graou, THE rookie that Toulouse needed as an understudy for Antoine Dupont?
This season, two of the Pro D2 stars are Léo Coly and Charlie Cassang. With 10 tries and 220 points scored for the first, as well as 8 achievements for the second, the two scrum halves are a hit and, at the dawn of the 21st day, everyone is salivating to see them face off on this Friday evening. which will oppose Stade Montois in Oyonnax. However, there is another number 9 who met everyone in agreement this year in the antechamber of the Top 14: Paul Graou. Admittedly, the former Montalbanais has paid the price for the cataclysmic first part of the season at Agen, but the 24-year-old player (1m77 for 88kg) has floated despite everything since the start of the exercise, like his 4 tries registered.
POINT TRANSFERS. Tafili (Toulouse) against Lyon, Graou (Agen) at the Stade, Takulua (Toulon) at the SUA
Better, the original Gersois is considered by many to be the best player in the SUA in 2021/2022, and among the references of the Pro D2 at the same time. Admittedly, relatively little media, the son of Stéphane Graou (former tricolor international) nevertheless has quite remarkable qualities for his position: fast, cantankerous, difficult to knock down and endowed with excellent support, the Agenais also shows a good quality of ‘ejection. A profile reminiscent of that of a certain Baptiste Couilloud. Or Antoine Dupont if you prefer, even if the captain of the XV of France clearly has no equivalent in his style. Two boys who also knew each other very well since they evolved together as cadets, near Auch.
Dupont, Alldritt, Kolbe, etc. This Saturday, it’s the friends’ final!
Two boys who could meet again next year, too, since according to the Midi Olympique, the Stade Toulousain would have made the Agenais one of the priorities of its recruitment. It must be said that with all the qualities that we have mentioned to you, as well as the clause in Graou’s contract which allows him to leave Lot-et-Garonne for the Top 14, the club from the Pink City has jumped on the occasion. This modality must be activated before the end of February, the formalization of the signature should be recorded in the coming weeks. Still, while waiting for this one, we say to ourselves that Toulouse could well have – finally – found THE understudy it needed in the fray.
For his physical qualities and his very punchy side, some even nicknamed Graou “the little Dupont de Sapiac”, that’s telling you! And while, since the departure of Bézy for Clermont, the red and black club is still struggling to release a real number 2 in its hierarchy, there is only one not to wonder if Graou would not be this providential man. The Balès experiment has struggled to convince since its arrival when the young Germain and Page-Relo have frank qualities, but are perhaps still a little tender to ensure all the interim when Toto is in Blue, you say? Graou, on the other hand, is in full swing, is starting to have a certain bottle (more than 60 Pro D2 matches) and, icing on the cake, turns out to be an honest scorer when he is entrusted with the task (32 pts on foot this season).
Clearly, in view of all these elements and the market value – a priori – lower than its congeners of the caliber, it is difficult to see who other than Graou could better suit the profile sought by Stade Toulousain in 9. Only question: what about the others in his position? If his arrival is confirmed, Toulouse could therefore count 6 scrum halves in his workforce next season. Too much, too much, and we imagine that in this sense, between the end of Martin Page-Relo’s contract and the planned return to the club of Théo Idjellidaine, choices will have to be made. One or even two of the young people mentioned above could then be ordered to look elsewhere, since his departure clause having not been activated by the leaders of the stadium, Alexi Balès is tacitly committed until 2023. It is said that abundance of goods don’t harm, are you sure?