Romain Ntamack (Toulouse): “We were only 50% of what we can do”
At only 23 years old, opener Romain Ntamack was already playing his hundredth match in the Toulouse jersey this Saturday at Sale. Despite a very messy first half for his team, the Rouge et Noir won by a wide margin (27-5) and validated their ticket to the final phase of the Champions Cup. But that does not completely satisfy the French international…
How do you analyze this victory in two stages?
We knew we were going to start against the wind which was quite strong. So we had to hold the ball a little more but small mistakes prevented us from putting our game in place. Despite everything, we managed to have a few chances in the first half. Unfortunately, we did not know how to put them at the bottom. It’s a shame because we had plenty of room to do better before the break. But we weren’t panicked. We knew we hadn’t done everything to lead at half-time. We then came back with the same ambitions but, with the wind at our back, it was even easier to block them at home and hold the ball more. It was.
Winning 27-5 away from home, second in the English championship, must that still be a real satisfaction?
OUI bien sur. We would have signed immediately before the match. But we have some regrets about certain actions because we had plenty of potential to leave with the offensive bonus from here. We are very happy with the victory but, in our team, the players always want to do better and more. There are a few things to fix for next week.
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This may say a lot about your potential because you didn’t make the match you wanted in the content…
I think that in this match, we were only 50% of what we can do. We have the capacity to do better with the second in the English championship which promised us hell. In view of the match, without disrespecting Sale, I think that we did not force our rugby either. We are aware that there are many things to work on to go further.
Like Julien Marchand or Emmanuel Meafou, your package of forwards was impressive in the second half…
Yes, beyond them, many players were effective today, especially up front. They have been excellent. We have high class boys and, once again, we are happy with the victory but we will do better in the next matches.
In the second half, you concentrated your opponents more around the rucks. Were you in too much of a hurry to get the exteriors before the break?
That may be it, but we had analyzed this team well on video. We knew that she closed hard in defense and that she left a lot of space on the outside. They were there but maybe we weren’t always offered the right way. Sale defended well in the first half which prevented us from scoring. In the second half, we made passes and concentrated them in the middle to free up space.
Will the goal, against Munster next Sunday, be to finish this group stage well to have maximum home advantage in the final stages?
That was the goal, to win at Sale to hope to receive in the final stages. There, it is chosen done but there is still a big piece with Munster next week, which will surely play its qualification, even a final phase at home. It will be a final of this group of sorts, so we remain focused because the work is far from finished.
You provided your hundredth match in the Toulouse jersey this Saturday. What does this represent for the child of the club that you are?
Lots of pride. I am always very happy, already to wear this jersey, and this beautiful symbolism. I’m happy to have crossed this bar and I still have a lot of games to play. My friends gave me the gift of winning.
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You crossed the 100-game mark at just 23 years old…
It’s true, it happened quickly. This means that I have managed to string together the matches, year after year, and that I always feel good. I’m already very happy to be here today but there are still a lot of things to do in the years to come.