Toulouse. “We felt the players employed”
Was this match between your first setback and the departure of the Blues difficult at the border?
Not really. Following a loss, it is not very complicated to prepare for the match that follows. After Lyon, we felt the players affected, more the content than the final result. The apprehension of the past selection will free some and they will be able to play their last game more calmly before leaving.
If there is one club that wants to beat the Stadium, it is the CO. Is it even easier to prepare?
Maybe the Castres make it an event, but on our side, it’s a home championship match against a very good team so we prepared it very seriously.
Comment have you apprehended the ground game this week?
It is something chosen which is preponderant in today’s rugby, something chosen that we are constantly working on, which requires a lot of technique but which is above all linked to the commitment of the boys. If we fished in an area in Lyon, it is probably in this one so I dare to hope that the Castres will receive it, we will settle this factor from the start of the game.
To what do you attribute your difficulties in this phase?
Our playing philosophy can sometimes delay the arrival of players on the rucks, that’s for sure. But we saw at the end of last season, in the matches that counted, that we ultimately lost little. So I think it’s an individual and collective awareness that should not harm our desire to bring the ball to life. This must be a step in the construction of our rugby.
According to statistics, your team is the one that loses the most …
(He cuts) We are also the team that makes the most passes, breaks, offloads… The challenge is to reduce the part of lost balls in this phase to be all the more dangerous.