Beautiful people and new faces for the start of the school year at the RCT Campus

Last season's renewed enthusiasm doesn't seem to have waned. This Tuesday, around 9:30 a.m., you even had to wait a few minutes before you could get into the red and black training center. And catch a glimpse of Pierre Mignoni's men working hard on the green rectangle of the RCT Campus. There, hundreds of supporters were waiting to witness the "public" return to school for the Red and Black, who had already been on the track the day before.

Under the blazing Toulon sun, the latter, students from last season or newcomers, had already taken up positions several minutes ago around their masters: Mignoni, Parisse and their ilk. On the agenda: competitions on a large field and workshops in small groups.

The opportunity, before asking for selfies and autographs, to discover some new faces in the Var capital: those of recruits Matéo Garcia, Zach Mercer, Patrick Tuifua, Mathis Ferté, Clovis Le Bail, Nikoloz Narmania, and some young hopefuls. "Where is Carbonel?" , some still said jokingly, not unhappy at the idea of seeing their players again after more than a month of break, following the semi-final lost against Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

The resumption of public training sessions—which will precede many other stages of summer preparation—has allowed many fans to witness the first game launches of the season. There have already been a few small lessons learned: Zach Mercer, the star recruit of the offseason, has lost none of his touch, and the young players at the training center, like second and third line Fabio Zingone, are not afraid to show off.

Resumption on August 18 for internationals

Others, however, will wait before showing up at Sainte-Musse. International players who were involved in the summer tour or the Under-20 World Championship, such as Esteban Abadie, Gabin Villière, Corentin Mézou, and Samuel Jean-Christophe, will not return until August 18. As for Scotland's Ben White, recently signed with the British and Irish Lions, he will not return to the Campus until September, as the series in Australia is still ongoing.

By then, his teammates will have time to (re)work on their physical fitness and automatisms. To be ready, on September 6, to dive back into the ruthless Top 14 machine.