UBB-Toulouse. Maxime Lucu warns: “Toulouse arrives with a lot of disappointment from last year”
By Simon Galinier
Published on
This is THE shock of the start of the 2022-2023 season. Sunday September 4 (9:05 p.m.), closing the 1before Top 14 day, Bordeaux-Bègles welcome Toulouse at the Chaban-Delmas stadium. A poster that saves the UBB international scrum half, Maxime Lucu (29 years old; 9 selections), even if he is wary of a vengeful Stade Toulousain, after having completed a white season in 2021-2022.
Lucu: “We are going to come across a lot of teams that are more ready than some years”
In this pivotal year, since it precedes the 2023 World Cup in France, the native of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, trained in Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), expects a difficult season, because he knows that all international players play big and will therefore want to perform every weekend: “All the players, whether French or not, want to show off and shine to participate in the major event that exists in rugby, the world Cupespecially in France, so it will take even more effort this year to try to get results, ”explains the Basque number 9, before continuing:
We know that we will come across teams that are more ready than some years. In particular Toulouse which arrives with a lot of disappointment from last season and will want to show even more things this year, so we will have to be much more vigilant and serious than last year.
Lucu: “Believe in us, have faith in our game and use the support of the public”
Leader of the Girondin locker room and executive of Christophe Urios, Maxime Lucu expects a big challenge against the Toulouse armada, which he believes to be complete, while the Stadistes deplore all the same 12 absent for this first game of the season: Cyril Baille, David Ainu’u, Thibaud Flament, François Cros, Rynhardt Elstadt, Santiago Chocobares, Paul Graou, Lucas Tauzin, Pita Ahki, Juan Cruz Mallia, Yannick Youyoutte and Joel Merkler.
“We are going to play Toulouse which will be complete, for the first time, at Chaban-Delmas, so it is a first huge challenge”, estimates Lucu, before continuing:
They too are under construction at the start of the season. It’s always the same Toulouse, so there won’t be any big surprises and we’ll have to play the perfect match, from the first day. (…) We will have to believe in us, have faith in our game and use the support of the public (the Chaban-Delmas stadium will be sold out on Sunday, editor’s note) to play a very big game and start the Top 14 in the best way!
And his manager Christophe Urios concludes: “On a a real big date Sunday, because it’s the start of the championship, because it’s Toulouse and it’s an important match. On all the big dates, what I want to see is a strong state of mindof the beefy fronts and everything we’ve been working on since July 25th. »
Was this article helpful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Rugby in the My Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.