the essential
The Castres host the UBB this Saturday evening (9:05 p.m.). A match during which the Blue and White do not intend to adopt a more restrictive game plan than usual under the pretext that it is the vice-champion of France, very playful, who arrives at Pierre-Fabre.
The figures speak for themselves and clearly demonstrate the offensive power of the Union Bordeaux-Bègles. The Gironde team dominates almost all rankings of offensive statistics: best attack in the championship with 350 points, including 47 tries scored, 53 offloads, 3,667 meters covered with balls in hand, 34 crossings, according to figures from the National Rugby League (LNR). ). And yet, as surprising as it may seem, the French vice-champions have the lowest possession rate in the championship (45.3%). “When they have the ball, they attack in the right areas and, above all, they score. They are hyper realistic, it's a big strength. The big teams don't need 40 attacking balls to score,” underlines Castres pillar Quentin Walcker.
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The CO is therefore warned and knows that one of its main missions will be to deprive the Bordeaux armada of ammunition as much as possible, at the risk of exposing itself to heavy sanctions. “When they have the ball in their hands at the back, it quickly gets scary anyway. If we can prevent them from having it too much, it can be cool. Defending for 80 minutes is a long time,” smiles the left pillar. We're going to try to play our game, to be conquerors against teams like that, there aren't a thousand solutions, we're going to have to have more of the ball than them.”
Geoffrey Palis: “Stick to what you know how to do”
And when the Girondins are in possession of the leather, the Olympians will have to be very vigilant and solid in defense. As they did last Friday against Munster (16-14). “Bordeaux will present a different type of danger than Munster,” warns Tarn manager Jeremy Davidson. “It’s a team that produces more volume in the game, which is very dangerous on the counter-attack and on turnovers.”
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The Tarnais recognize the qualities of the Girondins and naturally fear them. So yes, they will make, as in all matches, some tactical adjustments to their traditional game plan to limit the offensive expression of their opponents as much as possible. But they don't intend to deny themselves. “We must not change our minds, we must stick to what we know how to do, what we work on during the week. Afterwards, of course there will be adaptations facing this team which has three -very quick quarters We know that there are mistakes not to be made, balls not to be thrown away because behind you, you are paying for it in cash. It will be up to us to adapt to that but we are not going to change everything. our game plan”, certifies Geoffrey Palis.
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“We have a way of attacking, a game plan and a structure that have changed,” says Quentin Walcker. “We are a young team in this attack, we recreated everything this summer. It’s up to us to continue to believe in what we do.”
