Although he deplored a less successful second half for his first captaincy, FCG center Romain Fusier nevertheless appreciated the great victory won by his team in front of Brive (34-22), thanks in particular to an incredible quarter-final victory. hour during the first act.
Romain, when we know in the context in which you prepared for this match and the quality of the opponent, we imagine that this clean victory against Brive fulfills you?
We are very proud, yes. It's true that we had a fairly eventful week, between the numerous injuries suffered at Mont-de-Marsan or in training. We didn't prepare for this match in the best conditions, we didn't do a very good training the day before, but we took four points tonight. That's what we wanted: to remain first at the end of this match.
You went for this victory thanks to an end of first half where you were very excitings, with a truly excellent quality of play.
Our first half was a reflection of what we know how to do, because we put our game in place and we knew how to overwhelm them. We knew that it was a team with fairly heavy players, who didn't always move very well over several periods of play. That's what we managed to do. Afterwards, we always have this little hole when we come out of the locker room, we don't have a very good second half. We played too much at home, and they managed to get back into the match. If they score at the end, they can take a bonus point, so no, the match is not over after 80 minutes. We had a very good first half, but there is still work to do to last 80 minutes.
For a quarter of an hour, your game was of exceptional quality, including three tries scored in eight minutes…
As I said at the beginning, we know that we can turn a match around in a short time. I didn't know that we had three tries in eight minutes, but it's true that we had a rather good period which we controlled well. We did a good job, we saw that in our systems, our combinations, it was really applied. If everyone respects their role, we manage to present a polished game, with a lot of solutions. There were some problems on the sidelines, I don't know much about it, but it was probably inevitable with a lot of new guys who aren't necessarily in their position. Casually, we managed.
Also read:
Pro D2 – Grenoble – Brive: the summary of the FCG victory
What does it feel like as a player, in a moment of such euphoria?
We're already having trouble breathing because it's running in all directions (smile). And above all, we feel joy, pleasure when we manage to make successful passes after contact, when there is always support, when we remain on the initiative. It's just more, that's what our coaches try to bring to us, to always be actors in what we put in place. It’s just fun and it’s bound to be very satisfying.
You were playing your first match as captain of the FCG, does that necessarily add flavor to this success?
That’s for sure… One more Friday the 13th (smile). There was a little bit of emotion, because it was something new for me, which I prepared for myself before the match. I think I wasn't overwhelmed by emotions and I knew how to do my job correctly. I have learned a lot over the past five, six years alongside guys like Steeve Blanc-Mappaz, and I want to say that against Brive, it was rather easy to be the captain of the FCG.
A final word also about the public, this evening who responded very strongly to the present, with more than 11,000 spectators present at the Stade des Alpes ?
It's a bit normal, when a first receives the second… We know that our supporters are always very present, that they push hard behind us, it's always a plus which has done us good. We heard them roar quite a few times, so it was quite nice, thanks to them for coming in large numbers despite the cold.
