ASM Clermont Auvergne won its first away match of the season against Lyon. A relief for coach Christophe Urios, who already has his sights set on the match against Castres on Saturday November 30.
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The Yellow and Blue have something to be proud of. Clermont beats Lyon 22-30, a first away victory which feels good. ASM Clermont Auvergne coach Christophe Urios is regaining hope.
After ASM’s victory on the Lyon pitch, can we speak of relief?
Christophe Urios: “Indeed, we felt that the more the days passed, the more we failed, the more difficult it was for us. Beyond losing matches, it’s mainly the way we lost them, the scores. We were never able to bring home points. That’s what hurts. Even in this match, when we were once again well prepared, we knew what we had to do, we felt during the match and from the warm-up that there was a kind of rush, a desire to win the match before it has started. Fortunately, we managed to win this match, which will allow us to gain confidence in ourselves and continue to move forward.”
What do you think of the players’ communion with the public after this match?
Christophe Urios: “These are things we play on a lot, our territory, our audience, the Yellow Army. We do a lot of things for them and as I like to say quite often, we are not always exemplary and impeccable in matches, especially away from home this season; They, on the other hand, are always there, they are always our support. There is a lot of kindness, even when things don’t work out well. The idea of the players being in communion, extremely close, was a good idea. It was indeed a relief, a communion surely. But more than that, it was to say thank you.”
Do you think Belleau and Moala came with a revanchist mindset?
Christophe Urios: “My role is to help the players, to make sure they get the most out of them. It’s not a benchmark match, that’s for sure, especially on how to play rugby. But it’s a benchmark match in the way we prepared for it. We played the match we had prepared. A bit like Toulon, we had matches which were not easy, which were sometimes poorly started but, through our resilience or our way of playing, in the end, we managed to win. This is the match we wanted to play. This is the fighters’ match. We called the week like that and I think that, from the first to the 80th minute, we fought. Sometimes with great quality and precision, sometimes a little less. We haven’t always been able to put our game together, but the main thing is to win the match.”
Have you modeled this club in your image over the past 2 years?
Christophe Urios: “It’s not the club that resembles me, it’s me who makes sure I integrate into the club, it’s not the same. But actually, to be good and to be good, I need to have a squad that resembles me. I need to have a close relationship with my players. We tell each other things, we move forward together. More and more, I am comfortable with the club, I am comfortable with the staff and also comfortable with my players, especially my leaders. I see good things.”
What do you think of Harry Plummer’s recruitment?
Christophe Urios: “It’s a good thing for us for next year but we have a season to finish, we have people to respect, the people who are at the club. We are happy to have Harry because he is the player we wanted to have. This player that we had chosen and that we are able to finalize is a very good thing for the club. The problem with this recruitment period is the information that circulates, which is often false, but which puts grain in the heads of the guys. Then you have to justify yourself. It’s a period in which we make decisions, namely “you stay or you don’t stay”, it’s the life of a team. I’m used to that. We made the bet, with the club, to say things as transparently as possible. We make decisions as quickly as possible so that everyone can first respect each other, look each other in the face and then, above all, find solutions to move forward.”
Will there be a lot of recruitment this year?
Christophe Urios: “No, there is not a big recruitment to do. We have a lot of players. We have quite a few players who are at the end of their contract. We are working on it. If we manage to finalize things as we hope, there will not be a lot of recruitment, only precise recruitment, adapted to what we want to do, in the development of our team and to strengthen it, everything simply.”
How do you view the return to the European Cup?
Christophe Urios: “When I arrived, I felt that the European Cup was part of the dreams, since they never won it. Me neither, so it’s a strong ambition. But before talking about the European Cup, there is Castres arriving, with all its arguments that we know, namely never giving up.”
A victory that will have to be confirmed next week against CastresOlympics on the Michelin pitch.
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