the essential
The international fullback of the “rouge et noir” did not hide his disappointment after the defeat at Ernest-Wallon of Stade Toulousain against UBB, Sunday September 29 during the 4th day of Top 14 (12-16) .
What comes out hot?
What is certain is that we wanted to have a good match. I think we had maybe five or ten good first minutes where we scored seven points. And afterwards, there were errors in our game, too many ball losses in our first half to be able to resist against a team that had come to play rugby and put a lot of intensity into the combat phases. , in the rucks, in the tackling phases. So bravo to her.
It seems like you’ve lost track after a quarter of an hour of playing…
We had a very good start to the match and then we paid dearly for our mistakes. We know, they have players who move quickly, who are capable of playing from anywhere. I think we take two or three big sequences of play where they start from their 30 meters. And in this game, when you start running behind the guys who are going 33, 34, 35 (km/h, Editor’s note), you inevitably go backwards. In the second half too, we had opportunities to score but we came too little into their scoring zone. I don’t remember that for 20 or 25 minutes, we came into their 22 meters. So we play, yes, but for what effectiveness in this match? Not much.
Do you think you lacked alternation? Shouldn’t you have put a little more play on your feet so as not to wear yourself out against this defense?
Yes, maybe in the second half. Afterwards, we were a little against the wind, even if it didn’t seem to be blowing very much. But in the air, I think we saw it because we had difficulty getting out of our 50 meters on our camp outings. We wanted, as instructions, to hold the ball. I think we were able to come back and break this defense, but we weren’t able to follow up behind these breaks. That’s what’s most frustrating. If we had known how to keep the balls and have continuity, we could have put them in a little more danger. But it is clear that they were able to come back and get back on the curtain fairly quickly without making a mistake.
The Bordelais also greatly upset you in the rucks…
Yes, they put a lot of intensity into it. We had worked on certain things this week that we could not or did not know how to respect this evening (Sunday). Simple things, it’s a shame. It reminds us that we cannot afford not to have maximum intensity in these phases. And I want to tell you: what could be better than going to Castres to try to rectify the situation in this sector.
Is your failed transformation at 12-13 still stuck in your throat?
It sure sucks not to come back to the front at an important moment. Individually, it annoys me not to conclude points.
Is your pride touched?
No, honestly, what sucks is losing at home. That’s a certainty. I don’t know how long it’s been since we lost here and I almost want to tell you that I don’t care, but losing at home is quite annoying, obviously. It loses points even if we won two away games. We know very well that all points are important, especially defeats at home. That’s what annoys me the most. What is certain is that we came up against stronger than us and that we are not necessarily sending a good message of a solid team at home for the matches to come. We will have to put the cursor back as high as possible to send a good message and above all provide better performances for us.
