The disillusionment in Béziers, where USAP was never able to find the key to unlocking the Montpellier lock, is over. We must now look towards Castres, on Saturday, to react and show a completely different face than the one displayed in Béziers. This is the mission of Franck Azéma and his staff.
An eternal restart. This Top 14 is merciless. While we thought that USAP was safe from a violent air pocket, after an exciting end to last season, and a successful first match in Bayonne, Franck Azéma’s team fell back into its old ways last Saturday in Montpellier. Failing conquest, aggression lost in the fight, questionable choices when it came to filling the scoreboard, we did not recognize the Catalan group. And no one expected it, not even his staff, who saw nothing coming after a satisfactory week of work. The debriefed match, the cold anger of Franck Azéma, who did not mince his words at the end of the Béziers match – “I’m ashamed!”, “They beat us up…” – fallout, it is now appropriate to turn to the sequel. Everyone had things to express, it is done.
Next up is a difficult trip to Castres, against a team seeking revenge after the defeat conceded on their home turf last season (13-17). “The defeat against Montpellier evacuatedsays the Perpignan coach, The question was: how to swallow it? How to digest it? And how to use it? There’s no point in dwelling on it. If I whine all week, I won’t move forward, and the group won’t improve. On Monday, we told each other what we had to say. Now it’s time for action. The important thing is what we’re going to do in the next match in Castres. It’s a chance, we’re playing again on Saturday! We won’t have time to complain. It’s up to us to seize this chance.”
“Questioning oneself”
Can the old demons from the start of last season resurface? Azéma sweeps them away with a vigorous backhand. “Frankly, if you’re trying to replicate what was positive, or erase what was negative in the past, you’re doing it wrong.he continues. We have an experience from last season, and we don’t want to relive it! If you don’t know how to question yourself, you’re dead! Of course, after a defeat like the one in Béziers, you leave with frustration, anger or disappointment. But what you need is to know how to pick yourself up, how the players are going to perform again. Know what the group’s reaction is going to be. It’s our daily job, the staff and me, to find the right answers and provide solutions.”
However, there is no miracle recipe. In this ultra-competitive Top 14, where everything is called into question before each day – “I find the level even higher at the start of the season” -, where everyone knows the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, it is above all necessary to be able to rely on some certainties. “How to master your rugby, that’s the question, continues Franck Azéma. I can’t tell you today what to do. Against Montpellier, we knew what we wanted to do and we made a mistake. Is it a problem of behavior, understanding the instructions, attitude?” And the Catalan coach took the example of his team’s future opponent. “Castres could have won in Toulon… They lost in the last minute (30-28) after a late try from Toulon and a touchline conversion (succeeded by Enzo Hervé)… But the previous week, they won at the very end of the match (31-28) after an exploit from their winger (Ambadiang) while they were losing against Racing… A result, as we know, depends on the accumulation of small errors which, added together, can change a result. We made a few of them against Montpellier.“
Leaders will be asked to take responsibility in Castres. “It is important to understand together what happened, what worked or notconcludes Azéma. When strategically, tactically you accumulate errors, you lose a little of your confidence and you give some to the opponent.” The basics of the Catalan game, the one played in Bayonne in any case, are good. They must be the launching pad for attackers who have fire in their legs but have hardly had the opportunity to activate it in Béziers. Montpellier must remain a blip. It is up to USAP to rectify the situation in Castres.
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Top 14: Bruce Devaux is ready to make his place at USAP
Devaux towards the operation
A tough blow for the Catalan front line, which lost three players before half-time against Montpellier. Hooker Seilala Lam, always so generous, was the victim of a bad blow when tackling Nouchi (35th), from which he had already practically recovered. Pietro Ceccarelli, knocked out in a collision (22nd), had not recovered when Franck Azéma chose to replace him with Brookes. But the hardest hit was Bruce Devaux. The new left-footer had to leave his teammates (36th), holding his right shoulder after a collapsed scrum. “After passing the tests, he will unfortunately have to have an operationexplains Franck Azéma. His unavailability should last between three and four months.” We will not see the left pillar, who arrived from Toulon this summer, again before 2025. GN
