the essential
The Toulouse forwards coach did not hide his satisfaction at having seen Stade Toulousain win with the offensive bonus against Toulon, this Sunday, October 27 at the Stadium on the occasion of the 8th day of Top 14 (57-5 ). And quickly planned for the trip to the Basque Country, the first double of the season.
What did you say to your players at half-time to make them change their face?
Nothing special, that we had to play simpler, that we be simpler on the conquest, on the throws, that we control our rucks a little more, that we pass more at the line before. Basic things but which were necessary because the first half was complicated for us. Toulon physically attacked us and we are struggling to find solutions.
Did you really feel in danger?
We saw Toulon who were really there to be very aggressive in defense and play a few moves, notably this try at the end of the half where, up front, we were a little passive on the ball carried. We wanted to stay our course, that was it, and the start of the second half was still positive because we scored very quickly. And then afterwards, we saw the contribution of the bench which put a lot of energy into the match and which allowed us to score a lot of tries.
Also read:
Stade Toulousain-Toulon: a half-time to get the ball rolling… How the “red and black” gained momentum to tame the RCT
Are there any injuries to the players called up this Monday at Marcoussis?
No, no breakage. There is Richie Arnold who unfortunately injured his shoulder. This is the small downside of the evening since he will not be selected and we were counting on him for next week. We will see on Monday at the exam level if he can apply.
While the internationals are about to leave, you are seven points ahead of third. Are you in your passing times?
Yes, clearly. There is still this defeat at home against Bordeaux but which we managed to make up for in Pau. We are in the nails and we know that tomorrow is coming this somewhat delicate period that we know well. It will be important to prepare for it with a somewhat special week ahead. We will have a lot of players absent, some who will return but we don't know how many. But we are used to it and we will try to do our best.
Also read:
ZOOM. Stade Toulousain-Toulon: Juan Cruz Mallia, the other goalkeeper of the temple… The Argentinian showed that he can be more than a solution
What impact does a success like this have when approaching this period of duplication?
Already, those who leave can do so calmly, having clearly done the work. Obviously, it is better to approach the period of duplicates a little in advance, which is our case, rather than lagging behind. It's really positive. In this match, even if everything was not perfect, we still scored a lot of points. For us, it's another competition which will start on Monday, very clearly, and we will prepare really seriously for it. This trip to Bayonne, against a team that is really in good shape at the moment, will perhaps be the biggest away match since the start of the season with a team that is undoubtedly weakened. It will be a real challenge. We have been preparing the players for several weeks for these periods too. Afterwards, it's certain that this match in Bayonne is a team that we play in doubles all the time, so it's quite special. I don't know what the other teams think but we know where we're going anyway.
Also read:
REPLAY. Stade Toulousain-Toulon: “We were opened up from everywhere!” Toulouse smashes the RCT at the Stadium and regains the leadership of the Top 14
It’s a team that we’re not used to seeing third…
Yes, but when we look at the matches that the Bayonnais played against Rochelle, Racing and Lyon, honestly, this place is well deserved.
