GSF students had an exceptional match in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday between the Portuguese and the Fijians. An unforgettable memory!
On Sunday evening, like the thousands of phones that were switched on in the stands of Toulouse Stadium before the Fiji-Portugal match, the students of the Fijiaquis Sports Group returned from the regional capital with stars in their eyes. In this final match of the Rugby World Cup qualifiers, the Figiacoes’ team collecting balls were as close as they could get to the action. Thus, they participated in an exceptional match in terms of intensity and emotions aroused. It is a memory that will stay with them forever.
Building on the experience of the women who preceded them three weeks earlier, the twelve selected students and their coaches left in the early afternoon to anticipate numerous inspections in order to reach the stadium without delay. When they arrived, the sports arena was still empty. Fabrice, their communications officer, accompanies them to the locker room where they discover the full uniform and takes them on a tour of the field to remind them of the instructions.
“We had to collect all the balls without exception because they have a GPS chip for statistics,” explains Thibault Martinez, one of the attendees. Tension rose as the stands filled up, but from that moment on, “everything was released and they played their roles perfectly.”
“We were in the middle of the square”
Among young rugby players, there is no shortage of qualifiers to thrill this magical Sunday, the exceptional communication between the rivals, and an amazing match that will see Portugal win and Fiji qualify! “We have to admit, even if we have a tendency to show off, we were a bit nervous,” Roman said. “It was huge and very different from TV. The atmosphere was already there and then us being very close players with impressive sizes like the Fijians. “It’s great! After the match, both teams joined us to take selfies. giant!”
It’s the same tone among his teammate Florian: “There was equal pressure, he explains. We were asked a lot. We were in the middle of this arena, and we had the impression that we were part of the match,” he explains. “The brotherhood of the fans was great. Filled with images in our heads, we had a hard time returning to Earth. I admit I had a lot of difficulty sleeping.”
It is Jérôme André, another mentor, who will have the last words: “This will remain one of my greatest rugby memories: seeing this happiness in the eyes of our boys is magical, flawless, even if we have to roll our heads.” Eyes to recover the ball! We are proud of their performance.
