Attractive in Challenge, the MHR knows that the reception of Racing is of major importance, to the extent that it wishes to definitively change its season…
Montpellier is doing well, thank you for him. Today returned to less dangerous waters in the championship, the MHR is ninth in the single group and says that when you think about it, it is not that far from the teams having clearly announced at the start of the season their desire qualification. That Toulouse, La Rochelle and Bordeaux are still far ahead leaves no doubt for the Cistes. But that Racing, Castres, Clermont, Toulon or Bayonne all play rugby that Montpellier will never be able to approach is obviously huge bullshit. Last week, President Mohed Altrad told us, for example: “At MHR, we are on the right track: recruitment for next season is complete, our young staff is excellent and although it will naturally take several years before we can rise to the level of Stade Toulouse, we are moving forward.” In this sense, the reception at the GGL Stadium of a Racing team that has been illegible since the start of the championship is of major importance today, as it has the power to completely change the MHR season.
To carry out this mission, the Héraultais already have the advantage of the terrain; the presumed superiority, too, of a pack of forwards denser than that of Hauts-de-Seine; the certainty, finally, of having taken advantage of the European parenthesis to explore a game which until now was only a sketch. Last weekend, against the Ospreys (59-15), the Montpellier residents proved that they knew how to play rugby and on this subject, third row Lenni Nouchi said at a press conference: “Until now, we relied a lot on our defense and in Challenge, we therefore wanted to show our offensive qualities: we made passes after contact, we held the ball, took risks and a lot of pleasure…” On the same theme, manager Joan Caudullo developed: “I was afraid that by producing a lot, we would forget the basics of our game a little and that was not the case in the European Challenge. It’s a good thing: we are neither Toulouse nor Bordeaux and if we do not physically dominate the opponent, we cannot win the match. This is what we must keep in mind before welcoming Racing.
Put the Racing under pressure
If the Hauts-de-Seine club is less conquering than it was in the past, it nevertheless remains a big customer of the single pool, once it decides to put itself in “fighting mode”. Caudullo, again: “Without disrespect to the Ospreys, we are preparing for a match on a whole new level this weekend. Racing, for example, has enormous qualities on the outside and throughout the match, so we will have the duty to put a lot of pressure not to let him express them.” And once he succeeds, the MHR would definitely convince himself that this season will have none of the stations of the cross that we imagined for him just a few weeks ago…
