The ASM has further gained in certainty, consistency and respect in Deflandre. He lacked a single thing to add three precious points.
In one week, the people of Clermont set foot in two hellish places, the Aviva and Marcel-Deflandre, and, on two occasions, glimpsed paradise. Seven days after making life difficult for the Leinstermen, Baptiste Jauneau and his partners were clearly in a position to win in La Rochelle. But the body of the colossus Will Skelton interfered between their match ball and the promised land, three minutes before the final whistle: “On the last maul, I would have liked him to take the video, whispered Christophe Urios afterwards. Because Babe (Massa) told us he scored.” And the manager says: “We have to win the match. When you fall into the goal three times, you have to win the game.”
Clermont did not succeed and ended up sending its final ammunition into the stands via Sébastien Bézy: “I decide to kick the last ball into touch when we could perhaps have put more pressure on it, explains the scrum half. But there were five or six of us on the ground and, given the first half, I said to myself that this defensive bonus was good…” Son boss valide : “I think he was right. That's what I told Seb and the locker room. He's right because we didn't have any momentum. We were at home, facing a team that put pressure. We were not safe. The conditions were very difficult, we had to go back 50 meters… At the moment, it’s important to take points everywhere.” If three more units would have been of precious value, especially in this context, the main thing was elsewhere, Saturday, for the Auvergnats. This part confirmed their rise in power and the impression that ASM is once again scary in the Top 14, in the wake of a pack with formidable density: “Since the restart, we have been able to be on the road like we are at home: that is to say a team that is difficult to beat, analyse Christophe Urios. We have gained consistency, we are more solid, stronger. We believe in ourselves, we have confidence in ourselves. Even if we don't win the match, I believe we have earned that, that respect. For me, it can't be measured. I want us to be feared at home but especially outside.”
“We came from so far away”
In this reconquest operation, this trip to Charente marks an important step. On Saturday, Clermont held its own against the maritime roller coaster and can even claim victory with its fists: “When you come to La Rochelle, if you don’t lay down the law, you’re dead, Urios continues. With Bordeaux, each time, we said we were going to lay down the law but we never did. We were getting crushed. There, we wanted to explain ourselves to them. We put them in difficulty, we even made them physically jump.”
To this strong point, ASM must now add a hint of technical mastery in the transformation of the game. And in the zone of truth. Christophe Urios is aware of this: “We are moving forward but we are not a great team yet. We are not in the courtyard of La Rochelle. On the other hand, we are laying the foundations which will ensure that, tomorrow, we will regain. And everywhere. If we continue to work as we do, if we continue with the state of mind that we have, this club will win again soon. We don’t yet have this confidence in ourselves, this quality of certain teams but we are progressing.” Saturday evening, the Auvergne supporters had as much to rage as to hope: “We’ve come so far,” recalls the manager. When I see where the team was eight months ago…” We are especially curious to know where it will be in six months… The promise is made.
