Hugo Verdu spoke at length and with a smile about the great success of Brive against Colomiers this Friday evening. He also talks about his move to scrum-half this season, after several seasons contested at fly-half.
How do you feel after this great evening marked by your big victory against Colomiers (49-15)?
It's been a long time since I played this much, so I'm a little sore (he laughs). It was fun! You can really see the difference between the first and second half. At the scrum, I struggled with all the balls because we weren't effective enough on the ball carriers or the first supports. In the second half it was night and day and of course it was easier to play.
What happened to make you react this way?
We have enough experience in the team to be aware when we perform poorly. It's good to have reacted at half-time. No need for big speeches, we knew we were falling short of what we should have done.
It all came down to this kick-off of the second period, in your opinion?
Coming in at half-time, we immediately said to ourselves that 9 points behind wasn't much and it could go quickly. And that's what happened. The first dismissal is very well struck, “Tank” puts on this big tackle, something we didn't do in first, when Dimcheff makes his breakthrough from 40 meters… There it is, the difference. We were keen to come back and we know very well that this kick-off is ammunition. And we used it well.
Also read:
Pro D2 – How Brive turned the table against Colomiers
Pierre-Henry Broncan spoke of the brutal announcement, before a match, of the death of a member of a player's family. Did this impact your preparation?
I don't know, it's always difficult… Of course, we were marked, we really find out after the pre-match briefing. We were leaving the living room to go to the changing rooms when he told us on the way. It's always brutal to hear news like that. But the timing was obviously very bad.
Coming back to the match, could this second half be seen as a turning point for your attack, as Stuart Olding suggested?
In the first half, our rucks were bad, they lasted more than 3, 4 seconds, it was annoying. In second, the releases were clean and I had good communication with Stuart who knows how to manage matches very well. We tried to alternate as best as possible with percussion with the fronts, and balls on the wings for the guys who have legs behind.
Also read:
Pro D2 – The strong emotion, the rout then the triumph of Brive told by Pierre-Henry Broncan
After seasons spent at opener, you played most of the match in 9, despite the competition. How did you feel?
I have to discuss with the staff about my individual return. But it's always Nice to take part in these matches where we win in style. It's been almost four years since I played 9. The competition is strong in Brive, it's totally the opposite of what I experienced in Massy. I'm not talking about quality, but quantity. That is to say that there, we have a squad of 45 professional players plus all the young people. Last year in Massy, we struggled to be 15 against 15 in training. Almost, if you were fit to play, you were on the sheet. It's a good thing to have such a bloated workforce. Already, the level is uniform and there is quality at all levels. It's quite interesting.
To confirm, what you have not been able to do this season, is this your objective in Nice?
We are in a lot of ups and downs this year. The first half is a continuation of the matches against Dax and Valencia. I just hope we're not a jet team. Again, we need to be down 15-6 at the break to wake up and play at our level. The last two trips that went badly were to Mont-de-Marsan and Valence, and each time the opposing team was not in a good position. Nice is playing for its survival and we know very well that Brive is expected. Let's prepare seriously to have a good match.
