Challenge Cup – Brandon Fajardo (Pau): “We wanted to win less than them!”

Pau therefore lost to the Ospreys 31-28a little to everyone's surprise. But these Welshmen led by a great Jac Morgan had undoubtedly “targeted” this match to save what could be saved in a mediocre season. They suffered a little in conquest, but on the offensive level, they showed that they had the answer. They were rewarded with five essays, including two, assassins, in the last six minutes (74^e77^e) by fly-half Dan Edwards and replacement scrum-half Luke Davies. Two dagger blows which overturned a match that the Palois believed they had in hand. The Béarnais actually led by nine points in the 70th^e (28-19) before being crucified. But the defeat was not too bitter because it will not prevent the Palois from receiving in the round of 16, thanks to the results compared, the Section was sure to finish at worst, eighth in the general classification.

“Why look for new solutions?”

That didn't stop Brandon Fajardo from expressing his disillusionment: “For me, the first factor in the defeat was that we looked for new solutions, even though we had already found the right ones. We started the match well, exactly as we wanted. In the sectors that we had targeted, we were dominant. In terms of playing the rugby we wanted, we were dominant. And then we tried to do different things. » The special European Cup coach of Palois would have wanted his team to be content with a one-pass game to get past the defensive line, taking care of “conquest, direct play, territory and high balls. »

She didn't know how to do it, she let the Ospreys develop their game: « Ostarted to get them back into the game. They played their brilliant game, very lateral, lots of passing, lots of possessions. We chained together 10, 15, 20 defensive sequences. Little by little, it became a standoff. But we were ahead with a nine-point lead in the last ten minutes. We said we would win this match between the 60th and 80th, and what's more, we had already pocketed the offensive bonus. But in the end, I think we wanted to win less than them. » That was undoubtedly the key to the match, the Welsh played hard until the end.

Melee domination that was not enough

The second row Rémi Picquette did not hide his despondency. His pack seemed stronger, he got a penalty try after a series of scrums where the Welsh were in agony. Like other Palois, he believed that the Italian referee could have given a yellow card to one of the Ospreys pillars. « I don't know what the rules are in Challenge but when you are dominated like that in a scrum, that you go under the posts for a penalty try, there is something that must accompany that. We had the solutions in hand to win this match. We don't finish the shots. There is disappointment. There are good things but without finishing the work. We do 90% of the work and then we go for blowjobs. I had the impression that they were going to break down, some of our opponents had their hands on their knees in the 30th, but we are not killers, we should have finished. On ashut up nine points ahead and we should have put them at home, let them make mistakes, kick and recover the balls. That's not what we do, we make mistakes, we endure, we step back and we take these two tries in five minutes. »

HAS think about it, the question of cards weighed heavily in this match. The “biscotte” received by Grégoire Arfeuil for voluntary advance at the 40^e was followed by a 12-0 for the Welsh, just what was needed to give them confidence. The Palois will have the satisfaction of not having suffered any injuries and of having recorded the good return of Luke Whitelock who had not yet played all season.