After a tough encounter against Agen – won 32-18 – Pierre-Henry Broncan was satisfied, despite an offensive bonus point within his team’s reach. More generally, the Brive manager said he was convinced by his team’s first leg, provisional leader of Pro D2.
We saw you, after the final whistle, speaking with the referees. Did you disagree with their decisions?
(laughs) I went to see the referees quietly in the locker room. We had to check the last action! It’s not serious. Agen has nothing to gain or lose in this end of the matchwhile we had a point to get. There is a suspicion that the SUA player commits a deliberate kick-in. It’s true, we looked at it before complaining. He has to deal with this, just ask, maybe there was nothing. It was a great action, with several moments of play. We were close to the line. It’s not serious. I say this now, but this is a championship where, last year, we were one point away from not qualifying. But we can all make mistakes… It was a complicated match for him to manage, I think. The weather conditions were difficult, there was a lot of engagement, static defenses, a lot of fighting, a lot of players around these phases. But I defend the referee (Mr. Bru). He’s a Gersois after all! I don’t want him to be penalized later.
Nobody came to impose themselves at the Stadium in this first part of the season. Was this a goal?
Yes, we wanted to finish the first leg undefeated at home. In this year 2024, which was not a good year from a personal point of view, I had a lot of fun with this group of players, especially at home, where we only had one defeat, against Nevers last January. We’ll have to remember that when they come… But before that, we’re first, so we’re going to ask the NRL to stop the championship this evening and go straight to the final phase!
You played several minutes with two less but you didn’t give in, that must be a satisfaction…
We are used to training with 13 or 14 against 15, so we know not to panic in these moments. We weren’t in too much danger, we were strong. In the end, it galvanizes us, the players make an effort. But I say it often, we lost our best member of the staff, who was our referee-coach Maxime Challon. It is now in federal hands and we have not been able to replace it. Our training is not behind closed doors, so we cannot bring him in secret, he would get hit… If a referee or a refereeing technician wants to come and help us, the door is open to him.
Your physical power made the difference again…
We are in winter Rugby. When we went out, it was hailing! Rugby does not change over the years. The players evolve physically, but physical domination remains a significant aspect of this sport, particularly on the forward pack. Here, there is a culture of the forward pack. We are trying to bring more cohesion between the fronts and the backs. We score four more tries this evening. We are the best attack in terms of tries scored (52), we are on the right path. But we have strong players, so fortunately we dominate up front. They work well and the young people are progressing, it’s important to keep that.
What conclusion do you make from the first phase?
We wanted to be where we are, in the top two. We wanted to be strong, but also to progress in the number of tries scored. We were weak at this level last year. I think we are on the right path. It’s still going to be a long time, there are 15 days left. We need to master our rugby more, because there are some slags that are annoying. But the kids and the staff work well, honestly. Knock on wood, because we don’t have any extra-sporting affairs. I hope we remain humble and hardworking!
Are you going to look for a medical joker to compensate for the absence of Sam Johnson, who is out until the end of the season with his knee injury?
We found it. It will arrive on January 5!
Who is it ?
That’s up to you to look for! He arrives by plane, so he doesn’t come from Toulouse, it’s too close. Nor from the Gers, we don’t have an airport (smile).
