For eight years, Stade Français head coach Paul Gustard was the architect of Saracens’ defense. Shortly before crossing paths with his former club in the Champions Cup, the English coach explains how he had built the most efficient defensive system in Europe in the distant London suburbs: the “Wolf Pack”…
What did you think of your team’s last match, lost to Munster at Thomond Park (33-7)?
At 14-0, we believed it. We really thought we could turn this match around. And then there were these two red cards… At thirteen on a hundred meter fieldthere were simply no longer enough players to cover the space and we then conceded tries… Despite everything, I remember that we finished the second period with 74% of the territory, a dominant scrum and character. Not everything has to be thrown away.
What did you say to Baptiste Pesenti and Pierre-Henri Azagoh, the players who received a red card in Limerick?
The players know that the result of what happened was a disaster for the team. For Pierre-Henri, there is nevertheless an attenuating circumstance since the Munster player (Peter O’Mahony) was falling at the time of the collision. Baptiste knows that he made a mistake and we are not going to repeat it to him: what happened after his expulsion and the result of the match are there to remind him of that. Now we’re just going to ask our guys to stay more focused and help them work on their tackling technique more precisely.
Stade français’ next opponent in the Champions Cup has something special in your eyes…
Indeed. I played for Saracens from 2006 to 2008 and, after that, I coached the team for eight seasons. I’ve had a lot of great moments at this club. I think I very modestly participated in turning Saracens into their contemporary version and I am proud of it. I also met a great president there, named Nigel Ray, of whom I have very fond memories.
Above all, you created the Saracens “Wolf Pack”, this defensive system like no other. What is the definition, exactly? And does it still exist?
Of course. The “Wolf Pack” is Saracens’ DNA. It’s written there on the locker room walls, in the gym, in the clubhouse. […] The idea came to us during a meeting with the players. We talked about the hunt and the attack. I then used Rudyard Kipling’s phrase: “the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack”. Andy Saull, who was one of our third row, punctuated the quote with a wolf cry. It all started from there… The “Wolf Pack” was and remains the Saracens mantra.
It’s interesting…
The day after this meeting, I continued with the imagery of wolves. I even bought t-shirts with the image of this animal. It took, the players bought in and our defense progressed spectacularly. I think that in rugby or in life, there are a lot of animal analogies that we can use, metaphors that speak to us all: it’s living, organic and we all have, at the at least once in your life, watch animal documentaries. Clearly, the image was strong enough for players to identify with it: the wolf is aggressive, gregarious and intelligent. […] After my departure, the defense coaches who succeeded me evolved the Saracens defensive system but the idea of the pack generally remained the same.
Do you use similar mantras at Stade Français?
We tried to use something that connects us to who we are. It is up to Laurent Labit (the rugby director) to decide whether or not we can use it, in what context, before which matches… But yes, there is certainly something which is linked to Paris and its universe, in terms of defensive principles, attack principles…
What is the ambition of Stade français in the Champions Cup?
We already need to beat Saracens on Sunday afternoon. Our goal is to go as far as possible in the competition to give ourselves a chance to win it. I think that when they arrived here, Laurent Labit and Karim Ghezal made no secret of the fact that they wanted to help the club win titles. Ultimately, we didn’t have an ideal start to this competition but it is far from over.
