Franck Azéma noted the problems on the sidelines in this match lost in Paris (24-7), which did not allow USAP to develop its game. But the manager also wants to retain the positive before the reception of La Rochelle next Sunday (6 p.m.).
What do you remember from this match?
It's frustrating because there is good behavior from the team. We have been in the match for a long time. There are good things in the engagement, I found that our defensive touch was interesting, the scrum too. Tactically, in what we had put in place to put Paris under pressure, we succeeded. Afterwards, we lose two balls, we take 14 points… And we are in difficulty, even absent, in our conquest in touch, which does not allow us to influence the first half and put pressure on the opponent . It's part of the projects that we must have, the concentration that we must have, the involvement of everyone, the staff, the players, in our week to prepare for the next match. This lack of ammunition at times, this precision on crossings… Sometimes, we are at the limit, we attempt an offload which is on the verge of success. It has to fall on the right side. We must continue to work, to improve the quality of our execution in training to be able to control it better in matches too.
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Top 14 – “We could have controlled the match better”: after USAP’s defeat in Paris (24-7), find the post-match reactions
You miss two penalties at the start of the match, which do not reward your efforts in scrums. Did it play a mental role?
It's always better if you're 6-0, when you gain the upper hand in the scrum. At worst, at halftime, you are 14-13. But that doesn't take away the gaps that are there too. Rugby is always a game of pressure. So, obviously, if you go 6-0, that means that you are in the ascendant and it shows in accounting terms. But the penalties weren't easy, it was windy.
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REPLAY. Top 14: USAP stifled and too messy in Paris to hope to win (24-7)
You were penalized 13 times, it was expensive too…
That's not what struck me today. If I have to pick something out as number 1, I don't think it's our indiscipline. Of course that counts, but I think that, over the whole match, it's more on the counterattacks that we take at the start of the match, things that are clear and obvious that we had identified, that make us wrong. Then, of course, if you add that up, Kieran Brookes' yellow card… He's being pushed, he's going down, that's how it is! It's okay to take a yellow, but he can't control it, he can't do better than what he did. Afterwards, on the second yellow card, we are under pressure near the lines, so it's normal. But we don't take a test! We prevent them from taking the bonus. We are not going to be satisfied with that. But it was important not to take it.
To return to the penalties conceded, there were many on Parisian balls carried. How do you explain it?
It is an area that is difficult and complicated to defend. Already, you go from the European Cup format to the Top 14, it's not refereed in the same way. It's a complicated sector. You have to know how you resist that, how you defend. At one point, we were penalized for a tackle at 15 meters on a maul, but there was only one player. So, there is no maul! But there you go… Whether we are penalized for two or three balls carried where we go to the side, there is nothing to say. Now we have to manage this on our side too.
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