Relieved by the victory acquired at the last minute against Montpellier and happy to enjoy a well-deserved vacation, Castres captain Matthieu Babillot nevertheless remained lucid about the production of his team which was trailing for most of the game.
Your first test of the season will have been decisive…
It's true, but it's anecdotal. I would have been just as happy if another teammate had scored it. We have this touch five meters away where we don't defend in the air even though we had just said that we were going to jump… I go to defend and there I see Gauthier (Maravat, Editor's note.) who comes out with the ball! I don't know what's going on with the action, but that's good! A priori, there is no fault because the referee does not whistle. Behind, we manage to string together the playing times, to play hard and in the end it smiles on us. We are happy, very happy even because a close victory feels good but… It could very well have gone the other way so we have to stay measured. We must also congratulate this Montpellier team who put us under pressure for more than 80 minutes, because they were ahead in the score. We will be able to go on vacation and recharge our batteries.
Did you have any fears about the whole meeting?
Yes and no. Yes, because in the first half we made a lot of mistakes, we released a lot of balls, we were kicked high… We weren't demanding enough, and even too complacent. When you are enough against such a team, you get countered and you take attempts. We were frustrated and the more time went on, the more questions we asked ourselves. But we knew how to stay united, move forward, we promised each other not to give up, to give everything. That's positive. Even if I'm happy not to debrief that match on Monday, because that would have hurt your mind!
Ten minutes from the end, Montpellier still leads by ten points, what do you say to your players?
That the situation is as it is: either we get annoyed, we complain and we don't move forward, or we try to come back together by grabbing points. We fought with our weapons and behind, we managed to be clinical on one of our rare occasions.
How did you perceive Botitu's try in the second half? Are you saying to yourself that the machine has finally launched?
I tell myself that this test puts us back on track, but that we are not there yet. We had a test refused, this one is still on video… Now I tell myself that this is going to turn against us again… And then it happens. The details worked out for us. It's easy to be happy now and to have a smile, but I think of this Montpellier team who must be very frustrated with this defeat. We will keep our feet on the ground.
You were refereed by Nick Berry, an international referee, what was your experience as captain?
I was a little worried about my English! But I'm happy, I didn't do too badly. I didn't feel any more stress than usual, I just asked him to speak more slowly. It went well and I think it's a privilege to have a referee of this level on a match like ours. In a week, he will referee New Zealand – Ireland so that shows the guy's level. It’s classy, and I thank him for coming to Castres.
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