“We wanted to put a lot of intensity after half-time, but small lost balls, simple things meant that we restarted them. In the end, it could have gone wrong, but there was still a great reaction. It's a great team but I prefer to look at our performance, there are things to do better to avoid that: there were individual errors, which we can avoid. We are still satisfied, be careful, we take 4 points at home, we will be able to spend four days with family and enjoy ours, but I hope that we will come back with a lot of humility before Perpignan. »
Rémi Talès (La Rochelle coach)
“We retain the 4 points. The last league match at home was a defeat that hurt us. Clermont had announced that he wanted to test himself, and he did it. We had a complete first half, the second was tough, it will allow us to spend four peaceful days. We lacked control, we panicked a little, but on a last ball carried, which is Clermont's strength and which was a real test, we responded. In the first half, we felt that as soon as we pierced them, we hurt them. Then, we were less precise on the ruck zones, in conquest. »
Christophe Urios (manager de Clermont)
“This point is better than nothing, but I don’t know if I would have signed for it before the match. The end of the preparation was very, very good. I knew there was space, that there could be some relaxation up front, there wasn't any but we should have won the match. When you fall into the goal three times, you have to score. Although on the last occasion, I would have liked him to ask for the video. We didn't lack much in terms of efficiency. At half-time, I wasn't worried, it seemed like we could win, I thought we were there, but we weren't playing rugby, we were laying down the law. But in La Rochelle, if you don't lay down the law, you're dead. We wanted to explain ourselves to them, but we forgot rugby a little. In the second half, we physically blew them away. We showed character. »
Ultan Dillane (2nd line of La Rochelle)
“They really pushed in the first half, we had to respond, it was hot. We had to set the alarm. It's the victory that counts, we're happy, but it's hard not to play two halves together. In first, we weren't very precise, but we made progress, in second, we were less there. When it's big matches like that, we find a way to get into the game, to be there, we play a little more for eighty minutes than in a match like tonight. »
Sébastien Bézy (Clermont scrum half)
“I decide to kick the last ball into touch, maybe we could have put some pressure back on, but there were 5 or 6 of us on the ground, given the first half, I said to myself that it was good this defensive bonus. We could have brought more, but our indiscipline made us lose the match even though we felt we were in the match. There were physical excesses, we made some rather stupid mistakes which meant that they managed to score and come home. But if we don't make a commitment here, we can quickly get stepped on. »
