If the MHR won on Saturday evening, it owes it largely to the enormous performance of its closed scrum. In line with what she has been doing for several weeks.
After the meeting, when discussing with Léo Coly the new capital performance of the Montpellier closed scrum, the latter laughed about it: “Every time, I tell myself that there is a one in two chance of recovering a penalty!” On Saturday, the front eight of the MHR actually collected a lot again in this sector, allowing them to often invest the opposing camp. To tell the truth, the Héraultais have been dominating the showdown for many weeks. A real guarantee of security, on which to rely to promote the desired progress. “We have a very, very big packrejoiced Lenni Nouchi. Above all, the 5 in front. Because, well, the third row… Yes, we also tighten a little bit (laugh). But it’s first and foremost our first line that is impressive.”
Even if Didier Bès, coach in charge of this area, wanted to provide his analysis: “The scrum reveals above all a spirit. It is a collective work. You should know that, in this sector, the front line players are nothing without those on the second and third line. The ideal for a coach , is to manage to excite everyone in this exercise I think that the players are currently enjoying it. Above all, when we change one, we continue to be effective with those who enter. upwards.” This is precisely the case.
“It doesn’t matter who the players are…”
This is why we must highlight the XXL performances of Baptiste Erdocio (who remained on the pitch for 74 minutes!) and Wilfrid Hounkpatin, but also the remarkable entries of Lucas Tabarot and Luka Japaridze. Well placed to judge, Nouchi was also impressed by the resource of the MHR for some time: “No matter which players we put on the field, we manage to dominate the opponent in scrums and this is quite obvious over the last four or five games. We have to take a big tip of the hat to our first line and to our forward pack in general, whether the introduction is for the opponents or for us, we always have a hope of putting them at fault. It's a burst of energy. The best test? The series of scrums for Racing 92 five minutes from time in front of the Hérault goal, while the MHR was outnumbered… “When we are in our 5 meters and we win a penalty, even at 7 against 8, it’s incredible”insisted the third row. And Bès easily recognizes: “We will say that the scrum helped us a lot in this match. It was important.” Vital, even.
