Relatively satisfied with the state of mind of his players, despite the defeat linked to a lack of efficiency near the line (12-8), the coach of Stade Toulouse, Clément Poitrenaud, did not fail to remind , at a press conference, that his team had once again had to face Aviron Bayonnais during a period of doubles.
Clément, what do you regret the most this evening? Managing the last five minutes, or the first half where you spent a lot of time in the Bayonne camp?
As you say, there are two moments in this match that were not managed very well on our part. In the first half, we were completely sterile, although we were more in a phase of domination. I'm thinking of the first twenty-five minutes. We can't score, even though we create real opportunities. Then there are these last ten minutes, where we don't manage the end of the match very well and we give them the opportunity to score. I also think that the players gave a lot throughout the meeting and that we lacked a little fuel in the engine to fight like we did for 70, 75 minutes. It was at that moment that the Bayonnais took the upper hand. Very sincerely, we are proud of the players. In terms of commitment, the desire to fight on each of the rucks or to hang on collectively, I believe we responded. The Bayonnais had put 120 points, in three matches, on all their opponents so far. We took twelve this evening. It’s still an interesting performance.
You finish this first block in first place. Is it, despite everything, important?
Yes, it's always important to race in the lead. The idea this evening was to have a team that was solid and difficult to maneuver, especially away from home. Over all the matches in this block, we took points everywhere. Even if there is a home defeat against Bordeaux, there is not a match where we have not taken points. It proves that we are compact at the moment. Even if everything is not perfect, we are still in the game. This is really the positive point of this start to the season.
Why didn't you take the points in the first half?
Because we felt like we were pretty good. We decided, as we often do, to try to score. We lost two or three hits in the Bayonne camp. They would have allowed us to get our hands on the ball and, perhaps, to make it happen, but we were sterile offensively at the start of the match and these are the points that we are certainly missing at the end.
Is this not linked to the physical commitment of the Bayonnais?
Yes, it hit hard. Players took hits from both sides. Either way, you know that if you want to exist here, in Bayonne, you have to go through that, to have total commitment. If you arrive a little half-hearted, what happened to Bayonne's opponents in recent weeks happens: you take points. We made it a point of honor to put the body in front, on the line, as they say. The players did it. It is, nonetheless, an important reason for satisfaction.
Before you, Joel Merkler and Dimitri Delibes praised the team's state of mind. Is this the message you also sent?
Obviously ! This is a match that we will be able to work on for the future. The state of mind was impeccable. The Bayonnais, we will play them once again in doubles in a few weeks (the return match is scheduled for the weekend of February 22, Editor's note). I think since 2020 we haven't played them to the fullest. It's going to start to show a little… We're going to have to do something. It was good to send a message to show that, even during the period of doubles, we will have to count on us and on the boys who, during this period, have particular motivation and commitment. We feel that there is a lot of attention during the week. It's very pleasant for us as coaches and it's very interesting, once again, in terms of the state of mind.
Do you have any injuries?
Yes, there are a few shots, we will have to check that. There is Jack Willis, Joshua Brennan and Paul Graou who was concussed.
