“We will know at the end of this block which is really pivotal which championship we will compete in,” indicated Alexandre Ruiz before the reception in Biarritz three weeks ago on the occasion of the 7e Pro D2 day.
There is one match left before completing this long series of six matches, and not the least this Friday at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, co-leader with Montauban and Biarritz, but a third of the season is already behind us and the Angoumoisins occupy a promising 7e place with 26 points.
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The SA XV manager therefore took the opportunity to make an intermediate update Tuesday evening in Chanzy in front of the subscribers. He did it again on Wednesday afternoon in the presence of members of Medef Charente invited to follow the training before a joint lunch.
Assessment of this first quarter: “Encouraging but not satisfactory because I am never satisfied”, notes Alexandre Ruiz, who details: “Encouraging because it validates the progress in our project. It took six months last season for the players to get the hang of it. We had to work in the offseason to maintain that and get the others to join. »
With a positive observation: “Since the end of last season we have been on a dynamic which seems quite coherent to me. »
The example of 2016 calls for caution
A dynamic which even allows the SA XV to achieve the second best first third of the championship in its history behind that of the 2019-2020 financial year completed with 29 points, three more. The season ended in March due to the pandemic.
Third place on the podium being for the first year of Pro D2 in 2026-17, with 23 points. The Angoumoisins had even moved halfway through to fourth position, before maintaining their position during the penultimate day and then finishing thirteenth.
“I always have one eye in front and one eye in the back. I am very suspicious.”
This shows that the road is still very long and strewn with pitfalls, as Alexandre Ruiz underlines: “There are still two thirds of the season left so let's show calm and serenity. »
The SA The fifteenth and barrage, Nice, is only ten points away. The last and relegated, Valence/Romans, at eleven. There are a hundred left in the game…
“The risk would be that we think that we are far from all that, from the second part of the table, when we are not very far either,” adds the Angoumois manager, who reframes: “The risk would be to get lost and think it happened. I always have one eye in front and one eye behind. I'm very wary and I know it can happen very quickly. »
“Find consistency”
He insists: “My job is also to explain to the players that it didn’t happen. To keep them under a certain amount of pressure so that they can give the best of themselves. »
With the first objective of showing more consistency. “From one match to another but also within the same match. We are too unbalanced sometimes. »
The SA “We scare ourselves and we cannot manage to carry out the scenarios that we have mastered,” notes Alexandre Ruiz. “So consistency, lucidity and a cool head would allow us to be more coherent. »
So that this encouraging seventh place is only a simple step towards doing better next spring than the ninth place in 2019, a record to beat.
“It’s another step in the history of the club, but if we want to write it, we have to be even better than that.”
Possible operation for Rémi Brosset
Taken out on the stretcher in the second half on Friday against Agen, SA XV fullback Rémi Brosset was affected “at the insertion of the ischio. He did the splits,” says his manager Alexandre Ruiz. “He needs to do an additional MRI to find out if it requires an operation or not. But I think we lost him for three months. »
