Racing 92 are the new contenders in Europe.
Despite Jacky Lorenzetti spending money on superstar players such as Ben Tameifuna, Chris Masoe, Brice Dulin and, of course, Dan Carter, nobody seemed to take Racing seriously as potential candidates to win the tournament outright. They hadn’t yet broken into the realm of a big club in many fans’ eyes even with the big name stars they have on their payroll.
And yet this is a team that went 6 from 6 in last season’s pool stages. They made the quarter-finals of the Top14. They openly acknowledged that they wanted to get bigger and better, to compete with the likes of Toulon and Clermont Auvergne, to win trophies. And yet still people overlooked them as possible European champions.
Those people are looking rather foolish now.
Racing are in great form. Having welcomed back all their big names from the World Cup they’ve set about their business in a professional and clinical manner. They sit joint top of the Top14 and on Sunday afternoon they set a huge benchmark by disposing of Guinness PRO12 leaders the Scarlets in ruthless fashion, tearing them apart and picking up a bonus point in a 64-14 win.
It guarantees them a European quarter-final back at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir, where no team will want to play them. At home they are comfortable and they are very hard to better, especially with Carter pulling the strings outside Maxime Machenaud.
They have the squad to rival Toulon and Clermont. They have the coaching staff to rival Toulon and Clermont. They have the fans to rival Toulon and Clermont. Everything suggests that this Racing 92 side are on the verge of becoming something great and that they have the potential to reach it – so what’s stopping them?
They don’t have the mentality to rival Toulon and Clermont.
Winning is a habit, something the two big sides in France have acclimatised to over the past few seasons, and something Racing have not. Although this season they possess a better squad than they did in the past, they should still have been dining at the very top table of French rugby, however they have not. Even in their biggest game last season, the Champions’ Cup quarter-final against Saracens, they blew it at the last hurdle and couldn’t close out the game.
It will come. Toulon did not just start winning trophies overnight, they built and built and eventually they began to reach finals. They brought in a player who they built their squad around, and I’m sure most people will be able to draw several comparisons between Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter. They grew into the role of France’s premier club and now they flourish in it.
So too must Racing bide their time if they wish to be on the level of Toulon and Clermont. They are learning to put teams to the sword when they are able to and they will undoubtedly be in the mix come the latter stages of the Top14. Once they learn how to win the big games and the tight games, they will be some force to be reckoned with.
And based on how they are going so far, one suspects it won’t be long.
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