The Racing assistant coach savored this 33-23 success in Pau, rich in four tries after a paradoxical scenario. The Ciel et Blanc won brilliantly but suffered a ton of penalties.
What tipped the scales in favor of Racing this afternoon?
We had a difficult first half, with two yellow cards against us, but Pau failed to make a comeback. The second half reflected what we wanted to do, we were enterprising, we made good moves, we won the collisions and we were able to put our game together to score 27 points in 40 minutes.
What was your state of mind at the final whistle? An away victory in such a close championship is always an event, right?
It's obviously good for morale, for the staff, for the players, even if everything is not won. But it allows us to breathe a little and go on vacation in peace, that's for sure.
Did you target the Pau left wing on the kicking game with Attissogbé in difficulty?
No, we didn't target anything in particular, I think it's a story of connections, Pau also wanted to attack us in our corridors, we saw that in the first half. They were very good on the move, and in rugby today things tend to get tighter in the middle, and space opens up on the sides. And then, the talent of the players spoke, that of Josh Tuisova for example.
We follow you…
This evening, we wanted to show what we simply know how to do. We couldn't transform our work on the ground. Like Ibrahim Diallo who, as captain, wanted to see his friends have fun.
A word about Antoine Gibert who was the author of two brilliant passes at the foot. His entry changed a lot of things, right?
Antoine brought a lot of movement, he knows our style of play well and what we want to implement. But he also played behind advancing forwards, Antoine, but also Clovis le Baill took advantage of the good percussion and the quality of the rucks, and everything was easier for them.
Where Racing impressed us was in the management of numerical inferiorities. You conceded zero points with fewer players and as soon as you were in superiority you scored.
Yes, there was de facto management. Today, we knew how to keep our backs, in the previous matches we didn't manage our weak times well, here we knew how to resist on the line, with good behavior. Even if we suffered too many penalties, three yellow cards, and a red to finish…
Was Owen Farrell out with an injury?
He felt a little pain, it was not a gift to have him play in these conditions.
Did you expect to see Pau insist on carried balls as they did?
We expected to be challenged in front of yes, just as we expected to see launches with repeats from the Palois. They did it. We resisted but we can still progress. That said, I find that in terms of conquest we have been performing well even though we have been lacking in recent times. In touch, we managed to intercept two or three balls at the right time. But I’ll let Dimitri Szarzewski comment on that…
Had you already won by suffering 22 penalties and four yellow cards, the last of which turned into a red?
No, I don't think so. It's very rare. Against Perpignan at home last week we also suffered three yellow cards in the second half. We could very well have lost this match. Indiscipline can be fatal, but some have been European champions by being in tune. But we have to find the right average between the intensity we want to put and the fact of showing a good image to the referee, both in our body language and our speech with him. Ibrahim Diallo was also very good on this, he managed to maintain a relationship with Mr. Trainini. But I admit, all these cards and these penalties are a stain.
Related News :