Large winner of La Rochelle (45-26), Toulon moved closer to Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles in the ranking. Faced with the press, the Var manager preferred to calm the enthusiasm around his club.
How do you analyze this improved success against La Rochelle?
We saw the worst first period of the year. La Rochelle played with a lot of energy. We were listless in all areas except the scrum, and again. We were apathetic. We can't say more. At half-time, we knew we couldn't do worse. We should no longer kiss the head. We shouldn't let go. In this block, we took points everywhere and in all the matches. At the break, we just said to ourselves that we had to show our true colors. We just had to have the best second half of the year. Overall, in the second period, we were there. You know, we're coming to the end of the block. It's not an excuse, but it is difficult. That doesn't excuse anything, but we really need to rest, especially since we've been traveling a lot. I feel my group has been tired for 15 days. I knew it was going to be hard.
This match was strangely similar to last June's play-off…
Since the start of this season, I told the players that we wanted to show our progress. La Rochelle was going to come with ambition. They have absentees, we have them too. For me, we had to show progress. The scenario is identical to the dam. You saw it. We take tests… (he breathes) we pass to the opponents. We shouldn't sink. This time, we didn't lower our heads. Nobody gave up.
How do you judge this block? You took points everywhere except Sale…
We're off to the best start in a long time, at least since I've been here. But as I already told you, we have no margin. We have no margin. What does that mean? The Top 14 is tough just like the European Cup, there are fierce matches. We need to progress further. We must maintain this solidarity. We don't give up, the public hasn't given up. I liked that. They encouraged us. People could have died out. This was not the case.
You are within three points of the top 2. Is this important to you?
-Ranking is important. We look at it, but above all we want to stay focused on what we want to do. The progress we must make. The ranking will be the consequence of that. I don't have the ambition to say that we want to be in first or second place. We must be in the top 6. We keep quiet and work. There will be difficult matches. We're going to rest a little. There will be a few days of rest.
How much ?
They will have ten days of rest.
You said your team has no margin. Can you expand?
It’s not at the accountant’s level. If we go outside our line, we have no margin. We showed it in the first period. This is everything you should not do. We must be aligned with what we want to do. I know it's not easy. We ask a lot. It's not simple in the sequence. To come back to your question: you want to be 20 points behind or ahead in the rankings, the Top 14 leaves no margin.
