Injured the day after his first selection against New Zealand, Union Bordeaux-Bègles fullback Romain Buros returned to the field last Saturday during the improved victory acquired on the pitch at the Stade français after seven weeks of absence. He will now be able to make his debut this season in the Champions Cup when he travels to Exeter. A competition that he can’t wait to return to.
UBB is in a mano a mano with Toulouse in group 1 of the Champions Cup, do you have this in mind when going to Exeter?
We know that Toulouse has the ambition to win all its matches and we know that to be competitive in the Champions Cup for as long as possible, we have to entertain as much as possible, so we are looking to qualify in the best possible place. The objective is therefore to try to win in Exeter, with the maximum possible points, but we know that winning in England is never easy even if the Chiefs do not seem to be in ideal conditions this season. Finding ourselves in the Toulouse group, we knew that the bar would be high. It is certain that Stade Toulouse has the disadvantage this season of traveling to South Africa but we are counting on a victory for Toulouse against the Sharks given the squad that has gone there. It’s up to us to collect as many points as possible.
Despite the results in Exeter, could this meeting be a trap?
Absolutely because it is a team that plays rugby and can even play rugby very well. The Chiefs haven’t won many games this year but they always lose by a small margin, apart from against Toulouse. It’s a match that must be approached very seriously because we could be surprised, especially since we know that we are capable of putting a damper on ourselves when we are in a favorable spiral. So we were very focused during this whole week of training. We will now have to be good on the day of the match, and from the start, because they are a team that sets the pace. We shouldn’t be surprised, especially since the conditions are never easy there, with generally a lot of wind.
The team is on a seven-game winning streak. She was in the same dynamic last season at the same time. How do you explain it?
I have the feeling that the start of the Champions Cup brings us a kind of excitement with a game that suits us well. It brings a lot of competition in the group because we also have to rotate and so everyone wants to have as much playing time as possible. It’s a whole thing but the Champions Cup does a lot.
With only four matches in the group stage, is this also due to the excitement of the decisive matches?
We approach it like that. Every match is ultra-important and must be won. This is perhaps less the case in the Top 14 because in such a long championship, you know that you will not win every match so you look at the more or less long term. If you lose a match in the Top 14, you know you will have other chances. This is not the case in the Champions Cup, with only four matches to define a very important ranking for the final stages.
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How did you experience your return to competition against Stade Français?
The injury was difficult to accept because it was just a crutch. Typically this results in one or two weeks of downtime and it’s taken care of. There was a complication and I had to approach it like a classic injury where you have to bring everything back as best you can. In Paris, I especially wanted to do well, without being overly excited or relieved, because it is part of our daily life to sometimes be injured, or away from the group for long periods. I just wanted to maintain the level displayed by my teammates on the pitch because the team had been performing well for some time without me. My goal was to be at least on par with others.
Tell us about this crutch because initially, Fabien Galthié suggested that you could have held your place on Friday against Argentina and it was not impossible to see you otherwise with UBB on Saturday in Vannes …
Clearly. On Monday and Tuesday, I had the objective of playing against Argentina and on Thursday after having done exams at the club, there was a puncture to be done with the obligation to immobilize a little bit to be sure that the blood does not return, for a period of time that was impossible to estimate in advance. Afterwards, it remains a small injury, which is not painful. We have to put ourselves in the place of players who have real long injuries that can make them suffer. This allows you to put things into perspective very quickly. For a week my leg was immobilized so I couldn’t really do anything. Afterwards, I did the classic route for an injured person, with upper body strength training, we work everything we can, avoiding the fear of aggravating the injury.
With these seven weeks of absence, does your first selection with the France team remain a good memory?
Of course. It would be difficult to say otherwise. I’ve had the goal of being international for a while. It happened, what’s more, against the Blacks at the Stade de France with a victory to boot. It was hard to dream of anything better. Now, I remain an international with only one selection so obviously I still have an appetite and I hope for a little more.
How have you dealt with your frustration in recent weeks?
She was obviously present because I was able to see matches where the team played quite well, especially those in the Champions Cup. It’s a period that was quite beneficial for me last season so I would have liked to be there again. Afterwards, I was also very happy for my friends, for the team, and even personally, because I know that it promises a pretty exciting end to the season.
Did you have in mind the objective of returning for these two Champions Cup matches and thus claiming Fabien Galthié’s next list?
It’s not the first thing I aim for. First of all, I want to come back with Bordeaux because it’s been a long time since I played with UBB and it’s always nice to play with friends. It is difficult for me to aim too far because I am only a neo-international who is clearly not established in the France group. I want to perform with my club and, afterward, it’s not me who makes the choices. So I’m not going to put pressure on myself about that.
What was the atmosphere in the group after the UBB demonstration against Stade Français?
This is perhaps one of the first times where we have won with the away offensive bonus in the Top 14. We knew that we were not expected in Paris because the Stade Français was in a difficult situation. We also know that we are a team that lets itself go a little when it is not under too much pressure. It was therefore obviously a very satisfactory result but also to see our big players throw themselves so hard in defense. Last season, as soon as we got drilled, we often took tests and this was not the case. We let Stade Français attack us for quite a long time in our 22 meters in the first half without them really managing to score. These are small details, small points which show the state of mind of the group.
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