Absent since the first day of the championship due to a broken hand, Julien Dumora made his comeback to Pierre-Fabre on Saturday. Coming into play in the fiftieth minute, the Tarn full-back was able to enjoy a deserved success.
This match marked your return to the Top 14. How did you feel and were you happy to be back on the pitch and with your teammates?
I was very happy to find the game again today. I was a bit in the state of mind of a kid who is going to play his first match. I really wanted to have fun with my friends. The weather was beautiful, the public was present, the victory was there, everything came together to make the afternoon beautiful.
Is there a feeling of frustration at not having taken five points given the opportunities that the OC was able to create?
We could perhaps have gone for five points but at the start of the match we would have signed to win, quite simply. We spent eighty minutes at fourteen. We shot ourselves in the foot, we had to adapt our game system with one less player. The fourteen-a-side match was long and tough, the bodies were worn out, we perhaps lacked a little lucidity at the end of the game. We are very satisfied with the result.
How did you compensate for the early absence of Adrea Cocagi?
We tried to find solutions. Defensively, we had to detach a third line in the line to compensate. On the offensive touch, we switched to reduced touches to try to keep the threat in the line. Well, this red card has somewhat disrupted our cells and our basic launches that we wanted to put in place to attack this Stade Français team. We can perhaps say that fifteen of us could perhaps have grabbed this point. There are a lot of positives today. We were very patient with the ball. More than usual. We were able to put together long sequences. Our first try comes after around fifteen playing time. We are really progressing.
You who followed the start of the season from the infirmary bench, what do you think of your teammates’ start to the season and are you satisfied with it?
Yes, for the moment I am very satisfied. But I also know that this Top 14 championship is going very quickly and that it is not waiting for us. A defeat and everything is called into question. After this match, we take a leap forward but it will be enough to lose a match to be demoted to the soft underbelly. Everything can change from one weekend to the next. We have two big games left before the November break. It’s up to us to positive our dynamic to finish this long block well.
A word about Louis Le Brun, your young opener who had a very good match?
He is gaining strength. He needs to string together matches and that’s what he’s doing at the moment. Tonight, Louis had a very good match. He’s really progressed since the start of the season, he’s gaining more and more confidence. The return of Pierre Popelin, which should not be long, will maintain competition and continue to grow the team.
France
Rugby
