Racing did it for the fans
Racing Metro centre Josh Matavesi dedicated his side’s first win in Pool 2 to the 58 fans who travelled to the Madejski Stadium to see their side turn the tables on London Irish with a 25-19 win.
Matavesi admitted it was painful for the players to see the Racing fans leaving the stadium with 10 minutes left to play last weekend when London Irish ran in 24 unopposed points to pick up a bonus point victory, 34-14.
“We wanted revenge for what happened last week and we did it for those fans who made the effort to travel to London to support us. That showed huge commitment,” said Matavesi told ERC.
“London Irish put one over us last week and none of us enjoyed seeing our own fans leaving Colombes after 70 minutes. But I thought we showed good attitude in the return game and we responded to the criticism.
“You can fall into a bit of a trap when you lose a few games and losing becomes a bad habit. That’s why we were so determined to get a win.
“Even though we knew we were pretty much out of the Heineken Cup, we needed to keep up our standards. We have Edinburgh at home in the next round, and then travel to Cardiff, and this victory will give us some much needed belief.
“If we can beat London Irish at the Madejski, why can’t we win in Cardiff?”
With seven points from their four games to date, it would take a minor miracle for Racing to make the quarterfinals, but there are still places in the Amlin Challenge Cup to chase for the best runners-up as well as ranking points for next season.
