The Catalan second row should continue again in the Challenge Cup this Sunday in Parma (4:15 p.m.). Experienced, Mathieu Tanguy hopes to be able to bring his experience and his calm to make USAP shine in Italy and thus seek qualification in the round of 16.
This Sunday, in Parma (4:15 p.m.), there is the prospect of qualifying. It would be important for the club, the group, and you…
Of course. It's important for everyone, the supporters too. The journey was not exactly as we wanted. There were matches that we could have managed better. Afterwards, we still have the opportunity, on Sunday, to qualify and offer that to everyone. We don't yet know exactly the conditions, but what is certain is that we will have to win. I don't know if you can call it luck, but we play last, so we'll know where we stand. But I'm not in the habit of looking at other people. We'll focus on ourselves and put in a big performance, I hope. As they say, we'll do the math at the end.
You have experienced beautiful European epics with La Rochelle and Toulon (with whom he played in the won Challenge Cup final in 2023, Editor’s note). What is your role in this group with this experience?
Bring experience, I think. Today, I'm trying to focus a little more on myself, because I'm just getting back into competition. I had a few hiccups which meant that my start to the season was close to nothing. So, today, I work a lot on myself. But I hope to be able to bring this aggression and this experience of cleaver matches. Sunday is one of them. I really want us to focus on ourselves, on what we want to do. We do serious training. And we now have to translate what we do on Thursday into the weekend's match. Because the intentions have been good for several weeks. We work better. You can see it a little bit on the ground. But there is still a lot of waste that does not allow us to carry out our actions. And that's also what I can bring: a little calm, experience, to allow us to finish our actions and score points.
Is your injury completely behind you?
I'm not going to comment. I've said enough already and, so far, I've always been wrong. Internally, we thought things were settled. Finally, we arrive in mid-January and I have played five matches, the first of which was last week, against Cardiff. I hope today is good, I felt good in training. But I had already felt good before. And in the end, it didn't necessarily hold. I hope that today I will be able to continue and bring a little to the team because I have been given a lot. I was never forced. I always had confidence behind me. I thank the staff for that by the way. Now I would like to return that trust.
It's a good test for us.
The forward pack is one of the very strong sectors in recent times. How do you analyze this from the inside?
The scrum is a sector that we appreciate where I think we have dominated for six, seven weeks almost all our opponents. Afterwards, what is good about this sport, and especially in this area, is that everything is called into question every week. So we work a lot. The touch, I know it was complicated. We worked a lot, placed emphasis on that. We tried to sort out a few things. Not everything has changed because we don't go from everything to nothing in the blink of an eye, but we have improved and refined what could bother us. Today, we are just beginning to see the fruit of this work.
What opposition do you expect in Parma?
I've played there a few times and it's a Latin team like us, with close DNA. I thought I understood who was going to have movements among them, that there would be special conditions*, but it is not up to us to get involved. On the pitch, it's a team that will get going and will be galvanized by these potential internal changes. We expect a big fight. But that's good, because I think we have qualities in that area. It's a good test for us.
We learned at the end of the year that Perry Freshwater would be leaving next year. What has he brought you as a coach?
I will especially remember the human aspect of it because I loved working with it. He's a great man. We talk a lot about the coach and often about what he can bring to the field, but he is one of the gentlemen who does a lot for the club. It doesn't make any noise, but I can guarantee you it does a lot for us. Obviously, on this specific scrum work, he brings a lot and I think it shows on the pitch. But I learned to discover a man who has passion and a huge heart. I enjoyed working with him. I wish him all the best for the future because he is someone who deserves it.
