RC Vannes hooker Cyril Blanchard appeared all smiles at a press conference after the Breton club's majuscule and historic success this Saturday in La Rochelle (14-23). A victory which will be a landmark in the first season of the promoted to Top 14.
This Vannes success will be remembered, right?
That’s for sure! First victory away from home in the Top 14. In addition, with a big player, in La Rochelle. Honestly, it's huge. We especially wanted to catch up on last week's match. We had an exceptional 30 minutes before collapsing. There, I think that today, on the mental aspect, we played a complete match of 80 minutes. I think we didn't give La Rochelle any control over the match. We stayed in the match the whole time. And we also knew how to score on our highlights.
Sacred emotional Russian montages in the space of a week…
Completely! We knew we were capable of getting up to speed intermittently. And if we wanted to hope to bring home a victory away or even at home, we had to “match” for 80 minutes. This is what we were able to do today. Now we have to build on this match to build on the rest of the season.
How do you feel physically, after more than an hour playing against the powerful La Rochelle pack?
There, it's okay. I still have adrenaline (laughs). I have joy. We'll talk about it again in two days (laughs). For the moment, you don't feel the pain.
Tell us about the atmosphere in the locker room…
There, obviously, everyone is euphoric. The players, the managers, the coach…
Did you feel like you were at La Rabine when the final whistle blew? Your supporters were in meltdown.
Frankly, especially at the end, the last ten minutes, when we were +9 in the score… I was in the goal and it was incredible. The Breton supporters are sick. They delight me.
Who is it that today the coin finally fell on the right side?
We talked about it a lot this week, especially among the leaders. What could work? What could we do to stay connected and not have these moments of absence during matches? Each leader spoke during the match to re-mobilize the entire group, each time. There are no small efforts. Every little effort counts. The 23 who played today, no one gave up. This is what allowed us to bring home the victory today.
You ended up gaining the upper hand in melee…
I had the impression that the Rochelais were two more, they were so massive (laughs). We knew that it was really their strong point, the scrum and the mauls. In the first half, we managed to contain them. In the second, the bench managed to make the difference. We knew that it was a sector in which we were capable of competing. And it paid off today.
Did you feel during the week that the disillusionment against Bordeaux had been digested?
We immediately talked about the match. Obviously, we told ourselves the four truths. But we felt that we were capable of going “match” away. And that we had an opportunity to bring something back from La Rochelle. I think we built the week well. I won't tell you everything, but some different things. It's super satisfying, it paid off.
Is this defeat against Bordeaux-Bègles like an electric shock?
Maybe, we don't know. If we had won last week, maybe we would have taken 40 today, we don't know. But we have to build on that. We have to believe in ourselves. We are not dropped in the rankings. If I'm not mistaken, we are 3 points behind the LOU (Lyon is 13th with 18 points, editor's note). There are still a lot of matches left, and we will hang on. I don't know if this victory counts double because Pau won at home but we remain within reach of 13th.
