He will play his 90th match in the Vannes jersey, flanker Francisco Gorrissen embodies pride and humility, from Brittany and Argentina as the exemplary captain before hosting Bayonne.
Were you able to enjoy the historic victory against Gloucester?
Yes, after the match at La Rabine against Gloucester, we finished happy but we moved very quickly, we had the lead in Bayonne.
Is Bayonne a step above Gloucester?
Yes, especially since Gloucester did not come with the typical team. We have seen that Bayonne has good players everywhere. It’s a team that has improved, it’s very strong. We saw where we could approach the match but it’s not easy against them.
After the victory on Saturday against Gloucester, Karl Chateau said that the group had gained confidence in the hope of “not being enough”, how do you see your group?
Yes, of course, we know very well that the Top 14 is a very tough championship, every Saturday. We have seen the images of Bayonne, it is a very, very strong team with very good quality players in the forwards and three-quarters. Winning is good for maintaining confidence and concentration but we also know that at our level we can be a dangerous team whose confidence we must maintain but not too much…
Has the behavior of the players changed since the victory in La Rochelle?
Already the match against UBB, despite the defeat, the things we did were great. the best first period since I was at Vannes. After the match, we said to ourselves what are we watching? The first period? The second? How to bounce back from that? Already this match changed the dynamic, and after that of course the victory in La Rochelle didn’t change bad things and gave energy for the future. Even the match in Georgia was positive. We know very well that the next match is really important for the future. important.
What happened after the defeat against UBB to prepare La Rochelle? You relied on the first period, but in your mind it shouldn’t have been easy?
Yes, it was work all week because on Monday we all arrived sad. But there are always opportunities to bounce back. We said to ourselves what to watch? How to react? How to train with this again? We didn’t say “we’re going to win in La Rochelle” but it was really a special week. We do previews before matches, there it was Jules Le Bail and Bautista Pedemonte and it was the best we ever did. They gave a lot of energy and desire to play the match. From that moment we shifted and we said to ourselves we are going to do something huge. Concentration and energy, if we played a good match…
So the main focus is to work on weak times?
Yes yes. The defense, the technical quality, how we make tackles, we know how to do it. It is above all the defensive system and concentration, when you are tired, you have to make hard efforts, you have to have the lucidity to stay within the framework and respect the system.
You are talking about the next three matches, are they tilt matches?
We have said that these are important matches, that’s for sure. But we don’t play the season, the season is long. If we win all three or if we lose them, the season is not over. But it’s special, it’s important the next three games. The best thing is to think about Bayonne and not after. We have to prepare for a very good match, Bayonne is a very tough team, we will have to be at La Rabine with 100% concentration, the same against Pau, the same against Clermont. I feel that the whole group, we are all together, there is very good cohesion. Even though there are fifteen starters, there is the feeling that the whole collective is pushing. It’s very positive.
