the essential
Disappointed with the behavior of his players against Colomiers (29-33) during the ninth day of Pro D2, US Montauban coach Johan Snyman does not want his men to put too much negative pressure on themselves when hosting the Stadium Nice, Friday November 8, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. Despite everything, he is waiting for a reaction from his players.
After the defeat at Colomiers (29-33), Sébastien Tillous-Borde had very harsh words after the match, speaking of a “catastrophic” commitment, that it was not “the true face of US Montauban” . However, you still take a defensive bonus point. Is the speech more measured when cold?
We missed it a bit. Even if it's a derby, we have to be at a better level. Maybe it's a good time of the season to lose a match, it gives us pause. Winning in Colomiers remains a big performance and we barely missed it. We are on the tenth day, there are still many matches to play. We thought about what went wrong and worked on it this week. A derby must be a match where we play at a higher level. But it's not just the players. The staff must also question themselves. We lacked commitment, combat.
Can this defeat be a blessing in disguise?
Yes ! We're not used to being leaders either. There's a lot of pressure at the bottom of the rankings, but there's also a lot of pressure when you're first. Everyone wants to beat you. Perhaps we need to manage this wait better, we talked about it a lot this week. Nobody wants to lose but maybe it comes at the right time. It's not a disaster and it's not just red lights. It may put things back in place and make adjustments. And then we came home with a point despite everything!
Also read:
“Not the real USM in Colomiers”: is S. Tillous-Borde right?
The choice to take the three points rather than try to score a try is significant…
The match turned a little in the last quarter of an hour, we were no longer dominant, we had yellow cards. Coming out with a point from a derby in these conditions is positive. When the points come, you must not let them slip away.
Josua Vici was the author of a gross foul (tackle in the air)…
Yes… It’s an unnecessary, avoidable mistake. He didn't do it on purpose, he didn't decapitate the player or kick him in the head, it's a bad reflex, too much desire to play. You need to have more control. It costs us a yellow but he is also capable of turning a match around with an action, a tackle… We chose to keep him confident by lining him up from the start. We discussed it and we told him that it wasn't possible to do that, but we're not going to put it in the fridge.
Also read:
Rugby (Pro D2): How everything went off the rails in fifteen minutes, for Montauban, in Colomiers
Overall, you were very undisciplined, conceding 17 penalties in 80 minutes…
And I also take it personally since we were penalized for defending carried balls. We didn't put in enough fight. The forwards missed out a bit in this sector. We need to be cleaner. What we remember is that it is our actions that put us in difficulty. If we can erase that, we won't miss out as much. Afterwards, it sometimes happens to get through a meeting…
We actually know very little about Nice. What qualities did you detect?
She is first in offensive touch and ranks third or fourth in the championship. It’s a very strong team up front. This does not reflect her ranking but she has won twice away already. Don't think it will be easy because the first player plays the fifteenth. The matches are much closer in Pro D2. There are no big scores in the games this year. They lost several matches in the last minutes too. We also have things to rectify. They will come here with desire, looking for points everywhere.
Also read:
INTERVIEW. “I'm enjoying it here,” relishes Hugo Zabalza, the scrum half of US Montauban, leader of Pro D2 before hosting Nice
You also know this state of mind of the promotion from your last season in Rouen…
They come without any pressure. If they come to beat us at home, they will get a huge confidence boost. We also don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves. We have already shown correct things, we want to return to this framework.
This leadership position was not the objective but we are getting into the game…
Of course ! There aren't many players or staff members who have been leaders recently. It's good for us, but it's also good for the public, the administrative staff, the volunteers, the sponsors… It rewards everyone! And we feel it in the atmosphere with this stadium. We can be proud of these infrastructures and these supporters who support us for 80 minutes. Particularly at the end of the match, we saw it for example during the reception against Biarritz, they carried us to victory.
