Conjured in the fifth minute of the match at the Stade Français, RC Vannes’ only professional fullback, who is also a child of the club, Gwenaël Duplenne will return for the already crucial trip to Montpellier.
How did you recover?
More fear than harm, everything is going well I resumed training almost two weeks ago, ready again, looking forward to playing again.
How did you manage these two weeks?
These two weeks went by quite quickly. I observed, I was obviously a little disappointed not to be on the sheet but I remained in support of the team. We work as best as possible individually to prepare ourselves to play again, and collectively help as best as possible the team which will play with a role of motivator but above all of training partner, with good opposition the guys can work well and also me get back into the rhythm to prepare to play again.. It was a rainy but pleasant few weeks.
Do you know the rope metaphor? If one of the fifteen unscrews, we catch it and continue. If four or five go unscrewed, the rope falls… Was that the case in the second half against Racing?
I’m not a mountain expert… But yes, obviously if there is a failure of several individuals it will cause a collective failure and behind it the result will be missed. It’s about being concerned, putting everyone in the same direction and everyone knowing the requirement of the Top 14. It’s been five matches already, now these mistakes are over, this type of “Sufficiency” means being at one hundred percent for 80 minutes or more and even before during the warm-up and throughout the week. I think after Monday’s video session, we all realized it…
After these first five matches, what surprises you in the difference between Pro D2 and the Top 14?
We immediately entered the championship against Toulouse, so that set the standards very high. As soon as you relax a little, it’s a try as we saw in Toulon at the end of the match. It’s confirmation of what we expected: it goes quickly, it’s pragmatic, it scores points and all the teams come to La Rabine to win. We know that if you’re not focused the whole match, if you don’t give everything behind, to hope for something, it’s complicated.
