He had an infectious smile at the end of the meeting. Returning half an hour from the end of the match against Nice, Aitor Hourcade took full advantage of his first with the Olympic Biarritz. A successful first, because the BO won (16-0) and the 23-year-old delivered a solid performance for his return. It must be said that the third line loaned by Rowing Bayonnais had not played for almost eight months (April 27, 2024 during his loan to Bourgoin). Arriving at the BO more than a month ago, he had to wait a few more weeks due to restrictions from the Rugby Regulatory Authority (A2R). The Biarritz management has sent the expected documents and Aitor Hourcade now wants to make up for lost time under his new colors.
How did this first go with the Biarritz Olympique jersey?
I was a little apprehensive. It’s been a while since I played and we’ll say that when I got on the pitch, the stress went away. I tried to bring my freshness. I haven’t played in a while, so I’ve been running around. I didn’t touch too many balls, but on defense I did the job. I’m happy with my first and happy with the victory.
Why did you have this apprehension? How does this materialize?
The contacts, the rhythm. It’s been almost eight months since I last played. Training is good, but it does not replace the match. This evening, I still felt inferior in terms of the sequence of tasks. I have to get back into the rhythm in training and then it will work itself out in matches.
How did you experience these long weeks after your arrival without playing? Did you feel any form of frustration?
There was frustration. Afterwards, I took my trouble patiently and I said to myself, on the one hand, it allows me to better assimilate the game plan, here at the BO, to be clear on the keys, to be clear in the game In any case, I didn’t play in Bayonne, so I knew that sooner or later I was going to play here.
During these weeks without being able to play and more generally during these long months without a match, what did you do?
I questioned myself and tried to find my weak points. I worked on it at the end of training. We cannot give up, we must always have the hope of playing again.
We are professional rugby players, but we are not just here to train. We want to play. It’s our pleasure.
You didn’t play in Bayonne, but we were told that you never gave up there. Was this your leitmotif?
In Bayonne, I never missed a training session. If I had to be the 24th man on the scoresheet, I was there. I never complained. It’s not my habit to complain. I didn’t accept the situation, but I didn’t have much choice. Then, on the one hand it forges…
What do you remember from this victory against Nice (16-0)? The defensive performance where you once again concede no points at home or rather the big difficulties in attack?
In attack, we didn’t scare too much, but in defense, they didn’t worry us. We didn’t take any points. It’s not good rugby, but in the end, we win. Frankly, in the end, we were happy with the victory. It’s true, there isn’t too much content, but that’s how it is. It’s this kind of victory that should allow us to be in the top six at the end of the season. Nice should not be taken lightly. The teams, like Nice, who have just come up, have teeth that scratch the floor. We did the job this evening, we are going to prepare well for the week to go to Colomiers and try to make a success there.
In the 55th minute, the score was only 3-0. Did you have any doubts at that moment?
No, we didn’t really doubt it, because Nice didn’t necessarily worry us in attack. We defended well. We have not given up. We tried to get some rhythm at the end of the second half and it worked.
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