After the logical victory of his team against Toulon (22-6), the coach of the Ile-de-France attack Frédéric Michalak returned to the roots of this success, the second in a row in the Top 14.
How do you feel after this second consecutive victory in the championship?
It’s always nice to win, already. It looked like a final phase match with this 0-0 at half-time… We created chances, we got through but overall, we had difficulty finishing. This meeting was a game of chess but thanks to our energy and our initiatives, we moved ahead in the money time.
Why did you have so much trouble wrapping up your highlights?
Toulon is a wall armed with barbed wire, a very aggressive team in tackles and groupings. For us, there is still work to be done in the last ten meters.
Is this the start of a new cycle for Racing?
We talked about confidence before this match, determination too. Trust is created by our actions. There were positives against Toulon and that’s what made us win today.
Tell us about Nolann Le Garrec, author of seventeen points against Toulon on Saturday afternoon…
The role of the scorer was important. Nolann brought to fruition the good actions of our forwards. He was very clean, too, in his camp outings. He therefore achieved a very strong performance against Toulon.
How do you judge Owen Farrell, the big star of your squad?
He is slowly gaining momentum. Owen is understanding the announcements, the French culture… I think that on Saturday afternoon, he managed our highlights well and, through his kicking game, managed to put the Toulonnais under pressure.