At the end of his team's victory against the leader, the coach of the Mons forwards, Romain Mareuil, did not hide his satisfaction and relief.
We imagine that's a lot of relief tonight?
Oui, it's a victory that feels good because we said a lot of things to each other, we talked a lot and we needed action. That's done. A home victory against the leader, with a renewed state of mind, is what we needed.
And then in this result, there is material and manner, do you agree with that?
The way yes because we win this match, like the one last week thanks to an impeccable state of mind and because we don't give up. Material too, with a bunch of forwards who have been very criticized but who have worked a lot and who bring something to the team. The work is finally starting to pay off. Three-quarters also spoke this evening. Of course there are still things to resolve, we are not yet precise enough in the scoring areas, but we are little by little regaining that confidence that we were chasing.
Do you feel like you've come a long way?
Yes certainly, but we are not out of the woods. Beating Grenoble this evening, even if it is the leader, was the bare minimum. We couldn't afford to fall again after our victory in Oyonnax. We need consistency and this match had to be the key to regaining confidence. We all needed it, players and staff alike. We had to show this evening that on the basics, on the state of mind, we had found ourselves.
Do you think that your players will finally be alert, they who have already experienced disillusionment after great performances?
This is the fault of this group. He can string together big performances and let his guard down in the process. But I hope everyone has finally understood that we cannot afford to relax. So yes, we must keep the players alert, be careful that they do not unconsciously lower the cursors on concentration, precision, attention to detail, because this has repercussions in matches. It's our responsibility. We worked a lot within the staff with a lot of questioning to be very attentive to these aspects.
On a personal level, should your forwards' performance this evening please you?
Maybe it's because I'm a young coach, but I have a lot of confidence in my players. They are not the densest in the championship, but they have other qualities. They are united, they have a great state of mind, they put a lot of energy into what they do. I know it's not perfect, there are still many things to improve, but we are starting to see the effects of the work. We must continue to be demanding, but I am also satisfied to see players making full progress, to see Raphaël Robic captain, Luka Bagic who is starting to reveal himself, Jules Dussutour who has just had two big matches. That's really very positive.
In summary, a lot of joy this evening anyway?
Yes of course. This start of the season, he hurt the entire group. So obviously, these two successive victories do us good. We savor. Now, what would be really good would be to be able to string together a real series.
