“The demand has returned to its maximum” in La Rochelle, appreciates Bourgarit

You are going to return to competition after your injury and shoulder surgery. How do you feel?
Pierre Bourgarit: On an individual level, I am happy to be able to resume rugby. I was able to play again last Friday in a friendly match. (defeat at Deflandre against Pau 25-28, Editor’s note)it went pretty well, I didn’t have any pain. I just had some aches and pains but that’s normal given the time I had spent without playing (since the beginning of March)… Overall, everything is positive, I am happy. There were good feelings.

Last year, for the first time in three years, Stade Rochelais did not win a title. Are you going to get back into gear?
We have the same ambitions as in the past. We want to continue writing the history of our club. We want to win back titles and relive these highlights with our supporters, our families and our loved ones. But we know that it will be difficult, it will not happen by itself. We have to continue to work hard all season but, during the pre-season, I felt a breath of fresh air, the break did us good. It had been a while since we had such a long break with the succession of seasons, the World Cup last year. It did everyone good.

It’s great to be able to keep the same group, it means that the players are thriving at the club, that the club is thriving with its players, it’s also important in that sense.

Pierre Bourgarit

You have one of the most loyal and fervent audiences in France. The anticipation is enormous…
That’s for sure! We fed them for a few seasons. Now, they are always hungry, which we understand. They are demanding with us as we are demanding with them when we ask them to create an atmosphere. They want titles and we understand that very well. We are getting a taste for it!

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What were your manager Ronan O’Gara’s words at the restart?
He was happy to see us again. When you’ve spent 13 months together, sometimes you’re happy to part ways… (smile) There, at the restart, there was good humor, we had a great off-season, there were few changes in the staff (arrival of Stephan Du Toit as physical trainer, Editor’s note), This will bring a slightly different way of working, it has contributed to this burst of freshness. When you do the same thing all the time, it can create a bit of weariness, it can happen without wanting to.

In terms of the squad, Stade Rochelais has focused on stability.
We are coming out of a season where there were not many people at the end of their contract. We had two waves of extensions (including him until 2029, Editor’s note). It’s great to be able to keep the same group, it means that the players are thriving at the club and that the club is thriving with its players, it’s also important in that sense. Now, everyone has to push the bar of the requirement. That’s the feeling we have about the physical preparation. We can’t wait for it to start.

This group has been giving off a lot of confidence for several seasons.
We won things, we created automatisms, links. But it’s like in a company, we don’t get along super well with everyone, we’re not necessarily the best friends in the world. The most important thing is that we live well together, we get along well, we have a great group.

There are weeks when it’s tough, often Tuesday is our big session, we do ball carries, scrums…

Pierre Bourgarit

La Rochelle is known for the power of its pack. What are the secrets to the success of this front eight?
There are no real secrets! It’s a bit corny but it’s work above all. There are weeks when it’s hard, often on Tuesdays. It’s our big session, we do ball carries, scrums. We work on our strengths because we still have weaknesses, we don’t do everything right every time. We can still improve. The bonds we’ve created allow us to generate trust.

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The black spot of last year was your irregularity. How to erase that ?
It was complicated after the World Cup. We should see the number of times we were able to field our first team. With the problems of some and others, we were not able to field everyone on the same sheet. Young people also arrived, it took them time to acclimatize to all that. They have the right to learn and to make mistakes. We, the older ones, also make mistakes… Last year, our demands were not necessarily reflected in all the matches. We lacked precision, perhaps rigor in our work. But the demands have returned to their maximum, I think, since the start of the season.

I guess you talk about titles among yourselves…
Of course we talk about titles! We talked about it last year too even though we didn’t win anything. We want to taste again what we have already experienced. We will do everything so that it can happen this season.