Toulouse. Lucas Albert: back on familiar ground
Trained in Carcassonne, the TO scrum-half wore the Catalans Dragons jersey. At 17, he also played his first match in the Super League in the Catalan jersey.
Rugby League, Lucas fell very young into the treiziste pot twenty years ago. At four years old, he had already taken the path of the Carcassonne rugby school, that of the famous MJC. A school where his dad, Jean-François, the current manager of Carcassonne XIII, had high responsibilities at the time. A school that has shaped an excellent element since he has known all the selections within the various national teams, from cadets to seniors.
In this treizist world, the current scrum-half of Toulouse Olympique is one of the gifted. Spotted in 2015 by the Catalans Dragons, Lucas obtained his first tenure that year at 17 in the Super League. It was against Widnes. To date, the Carcassonnais is the youngest French player to have played in the most demanding of European competitions. Two years later, he was with the France group in Australia to compete in the World Cup. The following year with the Blues, he won the European title in the four-nation tournament comprising Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
7 games, 7 starts
After having known satisfactions and recognitions on the sporting level, Lucas lived a very difficult previous season on the physical and psychological level. A nasty knee injury sidelined him. His first season with the Toulouse Olympique, he experienced it more as a spectator than an actor. In 2021, he only had one game sheet to put his teeth into against Newcastle.
This year, the Carcassonnais has, so to speak, made up for lost time. In seven official meetings, he was as many times holder. “I worked hard to regain my level of fitness. I was well advised and supervised,” he says. Tonight, Lucas will return to a stadium he knows as well as the back of his hand. A stadium where he won the Coupe de France with Saint-Estève XIII Catalan in 2018 against Limoux. For his eighth match sheet, the Carcassonnais has an idea behind his head during this Franco-French confrontation. Toulouse will not be favorites and this is perhaps an advantage?