the essential
The “red and black” manager was pleased, on Friday June 28, with the large success of his men against the Girondins (59-3) in Marseille, in the final of the French championship. 23rd Brennus and new championship-Champions Cup double for the Haut-Garonnais.
How do you feel tonight?
The group, this team, this club, works deeply so that young guys can flourish in this sport which is incredible. Obviously, this quest for records, for exploits, to be the first in everything, is something that drives them. Afterwards, as much as you want to do it, you have to make it happen. What once again characterizes this team is that they have never, ever, ever disappointed in what they set out to do. We must recognize that when they commit, they achieve their intentions. What I like is the process, the path, the content. And afterwards, when the result is like tonight’s, we are obviously delighted. But perhaps we benefited from a very reduced Bordeaux compared to the two previous matches played at home, certainly leaving a lot of energy in these matches. And us, in the end, with a very average match last week but despite everything by scoring a few tries, we managed to close a season which still remains quite remarkable.
What do you think of your pack’s match?
Despite the absence of four or five major players from our forward pack, I think we had a very successful match up front. Obviously, when we are dominant up front, with the qualities we have behind, we are capable of playing rugby well. I’m not trying to explain or pretend, but content is extremely important in everything we do. The process is important. The rest, obviously when it wins, it’s pleasant but my concerns are about the content. And today, they were electric in the warm-up, they were electric since Wednesday evening. Really, I felt them determined. Afterwards, it works for us, so much the better. We’re having a season beating the best, whether in the Champions Cup or the Top 14, so we’re going to try to savor the next two or three days.
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How do you experience a final like this from the sidelines?
I take pleasure in winning. Whether by one point or by many. The only comfort we have is that the last 20 minutes are a little less stressful. The magnitude of the score is perhaps a little disproportionate compared to our opponent who, I think, will be part of the worrying landscape in the coming years. We focused a lot on ourselves. The decision to cut the boys off for three weeks, a month after the Champions Cup final, was a real gamble. There was a job done extremely well by the entire prep team, all the coaches, all the medical staff, to try to arrive in shape when it counts. Last week, I was a little unsatisfied by the content and our inability to kill the match when it was reaching out to us more quickly than we had done. And tonight, I think that by taking the score very quickly, we still made things easier for ourselves.
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Is there a match between this generation and previous ones?
(Smile) There we are at the second double. To use the terms of basketball and our young Toulouse basketball players who find themselves being drafted in the NBA, we are at a double-double. Are we capable of doing more? I’ll let you tell yourself about it. We are going to set ourselves small challenges internally and above all we are going to take the time to recover. We will try to take advantage of it and then we will obviously prepare for the rest because we were already eagerly awaited, we were a little disturbing given what I heard here and there, thoughts on refereeing that were not very well felt from certain commentators who sincerely would have done better to shut their mouths (Pierre Salviac, Editor’s note). But today, we are just satisfied with one thing: the path we have taken and the generation which is incredible.
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Does Antoine Dupont still manage to surprise you?
Yes. He gets countered, two feet tall… He surprises me, not always in a good way. What do you want me to tell you? What was great was that in relation to what he undertook, we called upon him somewhat sporadically throughout the season and each time he was with us, he has really been the player he is capable of being in big moments. Antoine, his status is no longer to be defined. I took him out 10 minutes before the end and I hope that Jérôme Daret and Christophe Reigt (France VII, Editor’s note) will thank me for not taking him back injured for the Olympics. I remain convinced that few players have the capacity to change their sport. I’m not going to list you, but there are players who have revolutionized their position and their sport. And I think that Antoine, in the few years he has left, is capable of revolutionizing his sport. I will perhaps launch it at XIII (smile).
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Did any players bluff you tonight?
Our entire forward package plays a remarkable role, which allows quite a few three-quarters to be more efficient and relevant. I loved the return of our young players. Joel Merkler, Clément Vergé, Paul Costes, Ange Capuozzo, David Ainu’u and our co-captain Julien who is really making a very big comeback so I want to tell you that the group worked and was good. What I remember is that beyond the opponents, the rivalries, and I know well that we often try to oppose each other, is that this generation wants to make its mark on its sport. She’s off to a good start, it’s starting to be pretty bad this evening, but I tell you, there’s still a little missing (smile).
