RUGBY. Top 14. This match against Toulouse, Wesley Fofana’s biggest regret
VIDEO. End of an icon, Wesley Fofana said goodbye to ASM Clermont AuvergneWesley Fofana recently said goodbye to rugby and Clermont supporters. After 13 seasons as a professional player, he made the wise decision to listen to his body and say stop. Of course, when taking stock, it is difficult for him to cite a significant memory. What immediately comes to mind are regrets. The biggest of his career? Failing to win a European Cup. “With the generation we had at ASM, we should have won more titles. Much more“, confides the former tricolor center via the Midi-Olympic. Young, he only realized that playing a final is something to be savored, because it may be the last, as the elders said. At the time, he did not listen to them. Of the finals, Fofana won two in the Top 14 (2010, 2017) and in the Challenge Cup (2019) but also lost several: three in the European Cup (2013, 2015 and 2017) and two in the Top 14 (2015 and 2019).
The first European, lost against Toulon in Dublin, is not his worst memory. “It was the time we were closest but I was young, I had less distance” Two years later, the center has aged and realized that a final is a rare moment in a career. Beaten once again by the RCT, this time it was much more difficult to digest. And this, even if the Toulonnais had dominated this meeting. This final played in 2019 against Toulouse at the Stade de France and lost 24 to 18. It’s not so much the meeting that leaves him with bitter memories, but the final result after a very good season. ASM finished in second place behind Stade with 16 wins. “I loved the way we built our season. Quietly, letting the light pass through to others.“
Qualified in half, the Clermontois had passed 30 points to the Lyonnais and presented themselves as a sizeable opponent. “We said to ourselves that we would stay in this position and that in the end, we would win everything.“Winner of the Challenge Cup a few weeks earlier, they could see themselves doing a small double and marking the history of the club.It was a great team, a great adventure, a great story.“But opposite, no”greater Toulouse“decided otherwise with a brace from Huget and a defense that did not let ASM score a single try.”This final, I took a long, long time to accept and digest it. Ask Franck (Azéma), he will tell you how long it took me to get up.“