Top 14 – Clément Poitrenaud (Toulouse) before facing Bordeaux-Bègles: “For me the “Galactics”, it’s those who win the matches that count”

On the Bordeaux-Bègles side, we are talking about revenge, do you think that the players will show a different face than in the final?

I’m not a soothsayer. What is certain is that on our side, we haven’t talked about this match for a while. The only ones who talk about it are the media and perhaps the people of Bordeaux. We are focused on our new goals and our new season. Obviously they will want to show another face. Such a heavy score in a final phase match obviously does not reflect the quality of their season and their players. Given their quality start to the championship, we expect a difficult match.

Can we imagine a spectacular match?

Each encounter has its truth. Everyone expects a spectacular match because these are two teams that tend to produce play. Now there will be fights on all lines. Afterwards, will a defense take precedence over one of the attacks or will we launch into a “ham and bean” match and it will attack from everywhere? I’m not sure. We all want good rugby but each match has its own truth.

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Does this match against a title contender count more than any other?

The media have been talking about this match for 3 weeks so obviously that makes the match special. There, we’re talking about Bordeaux because it’s the match of the weekend, but next week we’ll talk about Castres with the same level of investment.

But is it still a great pleasure to welcome this great team?

Of course ! It is a great honor to welcome this great team home. We know it will be difficult, we know it will be tough, they obviously want to play a match different from the final.

They want to make a match different from the final

Do you talk among yourselves about the “Galactics” of the UBB rear line?

In a joking tone only. For me the “Galactics” are those who win the matches that count.

Like the UBB, you resumed training late, but you are the teams that start the best.

It shows that in a short time, if you organize yourself correctly, you can make up for some lost time. This rest time was necessary for both teams. They worked well and there is also a form of continuity compared to last season. The squads have changed little, the Bordelais have strengthened a little more than us, but overall the teams are stable, the players know each other well, the system has evolved a little but there has been no major revolution. Working in continuity allows you to keep your bearings. The physical preparation remains to be sorted out but with a stable squad we can integrate it into rugby and save time.

One of the rare distinctions to have escaped you at “La Nuit du Rugby” is the try of the season with Ange Capuozzo. What does he mean to you?

It reflects the state of mind of the boys last season. This desire to play even once the match is almost over, this desire of the substitutes to bring their contribution to this final too. When you’re a coach, it’s a lot of pride. But as we have often said, these players still manage to surprise us even though we have experienced a lot together for 7 or 8 years now. But all of this is linked to the particular context of this final where we had an extraordinary level of confidence. They could have tried anything, it would have worked. We would like this to be reproducible every weekend, unfortunately this is not possible. What we especially need to remember is, for example, the first action of the match where we lose the kick-off, we defend for 3 minutes and we end up pushing them back 20 meters. It is also one of the symbols of this final. We will have to succeed in combining the two this weekend. We cultivate this desire to play, but not to the detriment of the fight and our conquest which are the bases of our rugby.