After a week of rest, Clermont’s three-quarter coach expects a tough game in the ground game, in Toulon (Saturday, 9:05 p.m.). Frédéric Charrier also explains that his men will have to be much more clinical than to Northampton …
What is the state of mind within the group after this week of cut?
We digested Defeat in Northampton. We analyzed it well. We project ourselves at the end of the championship. There are six games left so we have to try to control what we can control in our game. The La Rochelle match allowed us to start again on a more positive dynamic. Afterwards, Northampton’s match was high in the face of a high -level team. They showed us certain aspects of our game that we have to improve.
Which ones?
Have control and control the match. We saw that against Northampton, when we failed to control the match, we immediately conceded points where we took penalties, yellow cards. And it put us in great difficulty. These are key moments in a match where we took points easily so you have to know how to be clinical near the opposing lines but also on our own line: do not panic, do not give easy balloons to the opponent to take behind highlights.
Was it necessary to give this week of vacation to the group after what happened in England?
Yes, of course, we needed to find mental freshness, especially since there are players who come back from injuries. So it allowed us to find more players on the field, which is rather positive for the end of the season.
As a member of the staff, did the match in Northampton personally put you in morale?
Exactly. Fritz Lee’s injuries And Etienne Falgoux are terrible, of course. There is defeat, there are important injuries in the group … Obviously we needed to have this week to evacuate all this and go back on the right foot.
How do you approach this meeting in Toulon?
We are going to play against a high -level team, which has been making an incredible season, which has been surfing on the top 14 since the start of the season with the two teams that are in the lead, Bordeaux and Toulouse. They have managed to maintain an impressive pace since the start of the year. But we focus more on us than on the team we are going to meet.
You are going to face a very dense team. Playing Mayol too, it’s not nothing …
Indeed, we know the context of Mayol, Toulouse has also experienced it last week. But in the game, we expect a very physical, strong team, difficult to move, which puts a lot of pressure on the ground. It will be a meeting with the same context as when we met Leinster or Toulouse.
Would you have preferred Toulon to win his quarter-final?
I don’t know. In fact, we don’t care a bit because it doesn’t really concern us. Toulon, since the start of the year, has been formidable at home. They mark a lot of tests and do little. So, it doesn’t matter that they’ve won or lost the previous match, we know we’re going to be confronted with a good team.
Did you learn from the first leg that had been quite tense?
It was a tight, difficult match. We were carried out at the score and then we managed to overthrow the match at the end. But we didn’t use this match too much, to tell the truth.
There may be eight teams for three places in this final sprint. What will make the difference?
Cohesion, the desire to do things together, efficiency, especially efficiency, control of the game. These two dimensions will be important points to get a place in the six.
From an effective point of view, the players are back, which are still a bit fair?
There are the players who were outside who will come back. Will they be ready for Toulon? We will see, because there are still players who are not trained on the volume part this Tuesday. So we will take stock by the end of the week, those we can integrate or not.
Thomas Ceyte was absent this Tuesday, was he injured?
Yes, he has painful cervical. So to see at the end of the week if you can use it or not.
Quid of Yellow Baptist, Leon Darricarrier or Lucas Dessaigne ?
Baptiste resumed training on Monday. Léon and Lucas had taken up a little earlier, but they came out of long unavailability. So it’s part of the players we have to assess the weekend so as not to take risks on the Toulon match.
