Top 14 – Montpellier “no longer wants to look down”

You have to experience it as an event in Montpellier. This Monday morning, the MHR is eighth in the Top 14, with more than one victory ahead of thirteenth place. Manager Joan Caudullo had said, before the reception of Racing 92, that he would know better where his team stood following the result. So where does she stand after Saturday's victory? “In the middle of the ranking”smiled coach Didier Bès. We want to get away from these last places as quickly as possible. Honestly, I don't talk about it often but we don't want to relive what we experienced last year.” Reference to this nightmarish season concluded by an extremis success during the accession play-off in Grenoble to save the skin of the MHR in the elite. “For those who were there, it was a real trauma,” admitted Léo Coly. Frankly, it was decided within three minutes, with a final penalty in the 77th minute from “Carbo” (Louis Carbonel, Editor’s note). season on that, a bit of a career too, because you don't know what can happen to you… You can find yourself stuck and playing for the life of a club Yes, it's traumatic.

“The coin fell on our side”

So, he and his teammates know how to appreciate the current situation, after a still sluggish start to the current exercise. In this sense, and even if everything was far from perfect, the Héraultais knew that it was absolutely necessary to win on this 12th day. “It was one of the key moments of our season,” continued Coly. “We trembled, our indiscipline was glaring. We were hot, very hot even. But the coin fell on our side, so we’re going to take it because It’s something that didn’t necessarily go our way some time ago Joan (Caudullo) saw it a bit like a seesaw match. […] I think we'll stop looking down for a little while, it'll do us good. We will allow ourselves to look a little higher. Today, given what we are showing and the state of mind we have, we can see something other than this bottom of the table which I don't really want to talk about anymore. It's not often said, but in Montpellier, we no longer want to look down.”

Because this anxiety tended to petrify the troops, to prevent them from freeing themselves. They now have the opportunity, aware that they have reached a milestone in recent weeks. But also that they still have many steps to complete in order to continue their rise. “It's nice to know that we're going to have a peaceful celebration, on a positive note, noted the scrum-half. But Yacouba (Camara) spoke very well in the locker room after the match. There, we party, we is very happy, but more or less, we could all have been crying and having a happy birthday… So, we are enjoying this little break and we have to come back ready to work hard for the trip to Clermont and the reception of Bayonne.”

“We need to be more efficient”

After Christmas, it will therefore be time to reap the gifts of a hell of a challenge. On condition of progress on a collective level and of being able to better control the meetings from start to finish. “As Jo (Caudullo) says, we want to be annoying, analyzed Coly. Currently, we are, we never let matches slip away. But there are several moments when we have to be more efficient and succeed in killing the matches. This will come with confidence, the work of the staff. It's our round of progression. A season is long, the championship is still very close and a series can go very quickly in one direction or in the other. other.”