The MHR women welcome Romagnat this Saturday to close the Top 14 at the GGL Stadium

La talonneuse, du MHR, Laure Touyévec. Crédit Philippine Marquier – _pmphotos_

The MHR combines with men and women this Saturday at the GGL Stadium as the Montpellier players host Pau in the Top 14, kick-off at 5 p.m., followed by the girls from the women's elite 1 (5th day) at 7 p.m. against Romagnat.

The image is beautiful and, above all, plastered across the city: Montpellier Hérault Rugby represented, in visually identical proportions, by a player from the club: "We feel this spirit everywhere, s" rsquo;ecstasy Safi N’Diaye. To see these posters adorning our streets, to have renovated Sabathé, is to feel supported." Whether in terms of interlocutors such as the metropolis or the professional sector, "we no longer call limits by apologizing, but we are welcomed!" jokes, half-heartedly, the general manager.

« There is a real audience »

Following a federal seminar which brought together players in women's practice around the future of Elite 1 – sports manager, performance manager and association president on the MHR side –, the rugbywoman is becoming more and more anchored in popular consciousness: "We want things to move faster , but the debates are addressed: feminization of staff, revision of calendars to increase the number of matches. There is a real public, who respond, plan to follow us at the GGL, will perhaps come only for the girls or will decide to stay after the men, what's more for free.
Although turned towards their loved ones – « with the pride of evolving in this context in front of the families » –, the hearts of the players are above all at work: "Romagnat is, apart from our challenge of remaining second in the ranking, a very good team for the occasion. Today, it’s just chili pepper that’s added!".

Montpellier, festive rugby

From the seriousness of the training to the emotional touch, there is in Safi N’Diaye a confidence in the exhibition of communicative discipline and more assured than in the past: "We do not can't really speak from experience yet, but repeating the event less than a year from the first is necessarily easier. The links are there, everyone plays the game, and this Montpellier game is a festive rugby: in the wake of International Women's Sports Day (January 24), juniors and cadets will play on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. p.m. in Sabathé, the male and female elite at the GGL, and the reserve hopes the next day, 3 p.m. in Sabathé."

MHR – Romagnat, 7 p.m. at GGL Stadium, at the end of MHR-Pau.