Written by Zack Wilson
Photo by Bernard Rieu
Toulouse Olympique winger Paul Marcon is looking forward to his team welcoming Sheffield Eagles to the Stade Ernest Argeles this Saturday.
The last time the teams met was back in April, when the French outfit were well-beaten at the Olympic Legacy Park, with the Eagles triumphing 44-16.
“The whole group is motivated, for a lot of reasons,” he said.
“We were off form in the first leg and we conceded a big defeat while we were on a good run (seven victories in a row before this defeat). So we have to take revenge.
“It’s also especially important for us to lift ourselves after our last home game.
“Whenever we play there, we want the audience to leave happy and that was not the case against Swinton and Bradford.
“After these games, we returned to the locker room with our heads down and a feeling of unfinished work.
“This is no longer possible.”
Marcon believes that Toulouse have all the ability to win the game well, they just need to stick to their game plan and be confident.
“We need to concentrate on ourselves, try to set up an effective game in attack and be tight in defence and concede no points,” he added.
“We possess the keys to the match.”
Last weekend, Toulouse won 68-0 at Rochdale Hornets, with a performance that Marcon insists was all about the team showing their true ability after defeat the previous week.
Toulouse lost 28-26 to Bradford Bulls in Blagnac the weekend before, and Marcon felt the team needed to win well at Rochdale to recover their confidence quickly.
Toulouse scored 12 tries, with Ilias Bergal scoring six. Bergal, 23, joined TO from Leigh in the close season, but has been limited to just two appearances in 2019 due to injury.
“We wanted to show a different side to us than the one seen over the previous few days,” Marcon said.
“It’s been a month since we were not ourselves. We lost twice in our last two games at home. In both the result and the way we played, it was not us.
“We caught up last Saturday by scoring 12 tries and not conceding any points, which was very important as well.
“The team showed looked good throughout the game. I congratulate Ilias Bergal on his tries.
“It’s great for him. I hope it continues like this, for him and for us.”
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