Top 14 – “I would like Thomas Ramos to come to Clermont, but I know he will never come!”, smiles Sébastien Bézy (Clermont)

Sébastien, you are preparing to challenge Toulouse. Is this meeting still special for you?

Obviously because I still have a lot of friends there who play there, my family is also in Toulouse so from the start of the season I checked off this trip!

What connections have you kept there since your departure in 2020?

Mainly with the young people of the time, that is to say Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille, or Dorian Aldegheri. And there is obviously Thomas Ramos who is my daughter’s godfather. It’s strange because they haven’t yet stopped me as the match approaches (laughs).

Did you discuss this meeting with former Toulouse players Lucas Tauzin and Pierre Fouyssac?

No, not really, especially since we only trained once. The week is very short given that we played Sunday evening against Toulon. But I think that for them, this match should be special, especially for Lucas who has just arrived and who played in Toulouse a few months ago.

Traveling to Toulouse is never easy, is it even more so after two defeats in a row?

It’s not our problem. But we know that it will be very, very hard because it’s rare that they lose twice in a row, and even less three times. They will want to settle in front and in conquest in particular. They’ve had some trash in this area in the last two meetings, but we expect a huge fight either way.

One man should make a comeback: Antoine Dupont. Would you have preferred if he waited another week?

We would have actually hoped that he wouldn’t play but in any case they have very good scrum halves! He’s a huge player, he will bring them a lot, even if I don’t know if he will start the match. We haven’t put an anti-Dupont plan in place for the moment because it’s not just him (he breathes).

When you left Stade Toulouse, did you expect it to dominate so much?

Yes. At the time he was already making individual differences and exploits, we suspected his future a little. Between the titles and the Olympic gold medal at 7, he deserves what happens to him.

What relationship did you have with him?

It was a normal relationship, we weren’t “friends” but we were on the French team together and we often slept in rooms. Besides, we often bickered, we had fun fighting with the “big guys” like Julien Marchand in particular, this allowed us to dominate the fights more than on the field (laughs).

Beyond the Dupont case, Stade Toulouse should present itself with a furious desire to rebel. Have you prepared accordingly?

This week, the staff gave us a lot more responsibilities. With the leaders, we talked a lot among ourselves to detail the strong and weak points of Toulouse.

Does the victory against Toulon ease the pressure on this trip to the French champion?

If we had lost against the RCT, the preparation would have been much more difficult, yes. Losing at home against Toulon then going to Toulouse, that’s what happened last year! And today, being able to win by a point, in the rain, gives us a huge morale boost even though we have a lot to work on and improve. We need to let go a little more by making a little more passes.

Exactly, isn’t a match against the Rouge et Noir the best context to finally deploy a lot of offensive play?

I don’t know, but above all we have to show character to prove that we want to do something with our season. In Toulouse it’s always difficult but we will have to let go, even in front, because we can play rugby better with efforts without the ball in particular.

Last season, Toulouse won the Michelin with an extremely overhauled team. Are you going to activate this motivation lever before going to Ernest-Wallon?

Honestly, we didn’t talk about it at all. This match did us a lot of harm, we had a block of four matches without victories. It was a young team yes, but given their squad they won several times away with this composition.

After Pierre Fouyssac and Lucas Tauzin, which Toulouse player would you like to see arrive in Clermont next season?

I would love Thomas Ramos to come but I know he will never come. He’s so established there and I don’t think he has a reason to leave… even if we win on Saturday!