Third row Lucas Velarte was again in the oven this Saturday against Cardiff (23-20 victory).
USAP hadn’t won in the European Cup for three years, is that a relief?
Yes, that’s good. I think that this competition must be played 100%. And I hope we will qualify. Because that’s the goal. So I hope we will have a good week to get a victory in Parma. But above all we want to find the final phase. These are always magical moments in a season. It’s important for our supporters, for those who were still there today. And it is also for our team and for the future.
Also read:
REPLAY. Rugby – Challenge Cup: USAP takes on Cardiff (23-20) and the right to dream
You talk about qualification, is it a regret not to have won the offensive bonus?
Yes, there were plenty of opportunities. As we saw and as we said after the match with the coaches, I think we will still be biting our fingers… Because we could have easily scored three tries. In short, we’re still going to work. Because we have to seek qualification. And I think that when you have good weeks in the European Challenge, you are more capable of having good matches in the Top 14. I think that we need to evolve on this mentality, and that we play the European Cup. Europe 100%, as we played there. And the qualification, I repeat, will be very important.
We hope that we will find our entire group again.
You didn’t use much footwork, even with the wind. Was it a strategy?
Against the wind, yes. Afterwards, it’s been 2-3 matches that we start the meetings by playing. I think it works well for us. We are a playful team, we want to play. Even more so when you’re against the wind! Because we know it’s difficult to get out of camp when you’re against the wind. It’s good to take it out by hand. We saw that when we took them a little more directly, without making too many passes to pass, we were much more effective.
The scrum was again efficient in this match. This is a sector where you have a lot of certainty…
It’s the basis of rugby, I think. This is what characterizes us this year. We are happy. When you have strong points like that, you have to press on them and not let them go. We have to work on it again and again, to be more and more efficient, and for it to be our trademark. We have very good hookers, very good pillars. We have very good second lines and third lines who are also growing (laughs). Because it’s played at 8. It’s a good thing to get paid in melee. It feels good and it’s easier to get out of your camp. When you recover a penalty, you feel the excitement around it. It gives crazy energy.
Also read:
Rugby – Challenge Cup: against Cardiff, USAP finally won the European Cup to give itself the right to dream of qualification
In the second and third lines, you welcomed the returns of Marvin Orie, Mathieu Tanguy and Patrick Sobela. Does it feel good mentally?
Frankly, to see “Pat”, “Mat” and Marvin on the energy, on their experience and on their desire, it feels good… We have eaten our black bread. It was very difficult to play without these guys. These are our starters, guys who are very important in the group. We have recovered the first lines, we are in the process of recovering the second and third lines, we are still going to recover a few wingers… It feels good! We hope that we will find our entire group again, so that it brings a little emulation and that we move forward together.
