On Sunday, the women’s rugby championship made its comeback with a new, simplified formula. A unique pool of 10 clubs, inspired by the Top 14, with duplicates during international windows. Not selected with the Bleues for the Women
You signed a superb victory to start the season against Stade Rennais (62-0), what are your first impressions for this big return to competition?
Overall satisfied. It’s a good start to the championship, after which there are still a lot of things to clear up in order to be more efficient. Particularly our outings in the scoring zone where we tend to rush and our discipline, we got into difficulty too easily in the match. But despite everything, we managed not to concede any points and to be surgical in our offensives. I am very happy with the team’s performance because we managed to play the way we wanted with a lot of standing play and movement.
There were a lot of recruits during the off-season, including experienced players like Laure Touyé (29 caps), Lina Queyroi (14 caps) and Maëlle Picut (4 caps). This year’s ambition seems clear, is it time to compete with Stade Bordeaux which remains on two French championship titles?
Yes of course, that’s our objective, we have to go for the last square and try to get something at the end. After all, it’s only the beginning, the season is going to be long. We have to build our group little by little.
Also read: The Bordelaises dream of a hat-trick!
The Elite 1 has once again opted for a new formula this season, with the creation of a single pool of 10 clubs. Is this finally the right formula for the women’s championship?
The recipe looks good, it will allow us to meet all the teams in the competition and play every weekend. The idea is much more challenging and aims for performance. All the matches will be of capital importance. To get to the semi-final (top 4, Editor’s note), we have no room for error.
There is also the creation of a doubles formula like in the Top 14, the international players of the championship will not always be there…
This idea is also good, it will make it possible to maintain a dynamic for the national competition even during the major international events. Everyone will have the opportunity to continue playing and that is extremely important to keep pace throughout the year.
Being able to quickly replay allowed me to switch to other objectives, those of the Toulouse Stadium.
More personally, what are your goals for the season?
Obviously, first perform with my club and go for something at the end of the year. But also to get back into the French team since there is the World Cup in England in less than a year.
In fact, you were not selected for the first major international event of the year, the Women XV in Vancouver. How are you coping with this particular situation?
It’s frustrating when you’re a competitor, I want to play at the highest level. But this is part of the difficulties of very high level sport, I have already accepted it. Being able to quickly play again with my club allowed me to switch to other objectives, those of Stade Toulouse. But I will try to return to the Blues very quickly.
You have been an executive of the group for several years, this news arrived quite suddenly…
We expect it without ever really expecting it. Nothing lasts forever, it’s high-level sport, everything can change from one day to the next. But precisely, this non-selection should help me grow as a player and become even more efficient in all matches.
