Proud of his team, the manager of Aviron Bayonnais, Grégory Patat, was keen to salute, after the game, the character of his team, who went for victory against Toulouse at the last minute (12-8).
Grégory, are you more relieved or proud this evening?
I am especially proud. Relieved, too, but proud because we showed a lot of character this evening. There was a lot of intensity in the first 20 minutes. It hit hard, the Toulouse residents had a lot of possessions. We didn't want to play this game, we were undermined by the Toulouse residents, but we have not let go of the standoff. It's rather positive.
Toulouse scored its first points on the hour mark. This is the sign of a very great defensive performance on your part…
Completely, yes. We had to maintain a standoff, we had few balls. We know that Toulouse residents are very pragmatic and realistic, in the zone of truth. This evening, we had several defensive sequences on our line, where we resisted. There is a first ball where Cramont comes in the closed, he explodes on the one against one. There was a standoff in the 50th minute, just before their try, but we held the line for five minutes with tackle intensities that were favorable to us.
Weren't you afraid that the group would break down when Toulouse passed in front?
We knew we were going to go to these intensities. We wanted to hit hard too, but there was some response. We knew that their bench was made up of a lot of young people, so there was going to be a lack of connections at the end of the match. We knew we could achieve this money-time, but we had not anticipated this scenario. We really wanted to hold the ball to make them more difficult. We wasted an opportunity that could have cost us dearly, but the only positive sequence we have, where we hold the ball a little, with a little speed, is the one where we managed to break the deadlock.
What do you say to yourself after the missed penalty by Joris Segonds?
I am an eternal positive. I tell myself we still have timebut afterwards, we had to do the action we did. The instructions at half-time were to pay attention to discipline. We didn't want to give them too many opportunities to enter our camp, but we were put under pressure, we gave Toulouse too many highlights in our 22 meters. The second instruction was to hold the ball. I have the image of this first sequence where Baptiste Héguy drops a pass in front of the defense… I think we were impatient. We would have had to go even further in possession to break the lock a little earlier.
What can you tell us about Sireli Maqala’s performance?
Sireli, in one-on-one, is extraordinary. If you give him a little space, despite his size, he is very hard on contact. He has this ability to win his duels and that makes him the player he is. He is excellent on the rucks, very hard on the man. He has this ability to challenge. Even though we knew that the referee whistled a lot during that phase of the game, he saved one or two.
How do you analyze this drop in speed around the 50th?
It's because of the quality of the opponent. Maybe we were washed out. The holidays will do us good. Toulouse left us in our camp with a high-footed game. We were under pressure, Willis did a masterclass in the rucks. When we see the first minutes, whether there are young people or not, it was the Stade Toulouse. They targeted the offensive or defensive rucks and put us under pressure. For our part, we were not able to use Joris Segonds as we wanted. From then on, a kicking war took place and the Stadium put us under pressure.
Bayonne is, this evening, fourth…
It validates all the work that is done. The ranking is so homogeneous, but we'll take it. Maintaining positive momentum can have consequences for the recovery. Tonight, it was 50-50 and it wouldn't have been the same in the restart if we had lost. With a defeat, we would have started the season like ten teams in this championship. This victory will generate positive things for the recovery. It was a see-saw match. You don't play the same when you're in the top six or when you're 8th to 12th place.
Despite the drop in speed around the 50th minute, you once again went for victory at the end…
Yes, because today we are able to field two teams, our training is much more successful and consistent. There is more challenge between players. This evening, I wanted to reward the guys from Lyon and not say that there is a Bayonne team at home and another away. It doesn't work like that. We have used 39 players since the start of the season and if we manage to fuel that from within, it will create emulation. Today, Cassiem didn't play and it was a choice. Rouet is in recovery. Hodge, Mori, Bourdeau were not there. There are people nearby. We are able to get to the money-time because the bench has nothing to envy of a lot of teams.
Can you give us some news about Arthur Iturria and why did you decide to replace him with Héguy, rather than Paulos?
Arthur has an acromio. I don't know what rank. I think a high grade. Arthur is a fighter, you know him, he doesn't have the habit of complaining. I replaced him with Héguy, not to counter the movement of Stade Toulouse, but to maintain stability on the touchline. We prioritized Habel Kuffner and Bruni to put a lot of pressure in the rucks. With Paulos, in addition to Moon, that would have made four players predominantly land rather than air.
Did Xan Mousques surprise you?
Xan is the new generation… He arrives, I don't even know if he knew he was playing against Stade Toulouse. For him, it was a Top 14 match. He is happy, he smiles, he has a smile. He takes advantage of these moments. I think that the Toulouse staff had decided to put a strong man in front of him to challenge him and he responded more than present in the face of this opposition.
Didn't you want to put him through a concussion protocol every three minutes?
No, the Basque is hard-headed…
