Despite the defeat, the SUA wants to keep its ambitions in the game

With the SUA in recent weeks, it’s like the stitches of knitting: half time inside out (3-18), half time right side (15-7). The paradox is that the Agenais don’t do things by halves. “Our first half was a complete failure,” summarizes manager Sébastien Calvet, pointing out in turn the lack of intensity in the fight, the balls lost in the rucks, the failure under high balls and especially the poor hand transitions. -foot which kept the Agenais in their camp.

“In the first period, we play backwards,” confirms center Clément Garrigues, a bit disillusioned. “The key was the rucks. We lost them all, we didn’t have any fastballs. » Difficult in these conditions to put your game in place, especially when the hinge squeaks. While Maunder-Searle overplayed in their camp, the entry of the Bellot-Pourteau tandem at the break put the lead back in the hands of a team until then “heterogeneous in commitment” (dixit Calvet). Could the staff have made a mistake in their starting fifteen?

“There is not everything to throw away”

The strategy was nevertheless clear: “The idea was really to attack them and push them far home, in particular to hit far into the corners after three or four attempts when we had the ball around 40-50 meters. » In this perspective, the length of play at the foot of a Pourteau or a Tolot at the back would have been valuable, rather than struggling to hit a wall or light candles which illuminated nothing, especially when there is no one at reception. The damage was already done at the break.

And yet, Clément Garrigues assures us: “We must not throw everything away. In Angoulême, we did things we hadn’t done for three years. We see that we are putting things in place. » The Agenais also see that they are exposed to murderous counterattacks. Despite everything, they want to follow through with their idea, rather than returning to a more restrictive game. “If we had to do it again, we would perhaps do things a little differently in terms of strategy, but not in mind,” promises the Agenais center. We will keep our ambitions, that’s for sure. »