Étienne Fourcade displayed his broad smile after Clermont's solid victory in Lyon. The ASM hooker was enthusiastic while remaining cautious before the reception at Castres, who will have to validate this first success away from Michelin this season…
Étienne, does this victory in Lyon do you a lot of good in your head?
Yes, we are extremely happy because it is our first away victory, but in terms of content, there are a lot of things to settle. We stayed too much in our camp for example, but in terms of state of mind, we were strong! Even though we had some air gaps, we managed to be consistent. And we, the forwards, knew how to remain solid throughout the game.
In melee, you quickly gained the upper hand over Lou. Did you expect such domination?
Indeed, I don't have the impression that we were worried in this area. We had to adapt to the synthetic pitch but in the end we were good on the mauls. Now, we are not world champions, it's only one match, and we will have to do the same against Castres next week.
In recent seasons, you have had a lot of difficulty in restart matches. Do you have the feeling that this going green in Lyon has had a positive effect on the group?
Today, we played our first match back, and it's true that last season we had difficulty but that's in the past. We've been preparing for this match in Lyon for ten days and we were all aligned and aligned with the same state of mind. That's why we win! Going green has helped us a lot but we will have to be able to reach this level next week without having to go green (laughs).
You were devastating on the balls carried, did you plan to use and abuse this weapon against Lou?
We had planned to do a few because for several weeks we have been good at this sector, but perhaps we had not planned to do so many! We had to press on in this sector, and when something works, we might as well continue!
Personally, do you feel like you played your best game this season?
I've only played four so it's hard to say (laughs). Maybe it's the best, I don't know, but the most important thing is to have finally won away. My match is anecdotal. Every weekend is different, it's our first away victory and if we want to validate this meeting we will have to win next week at home. We have to move quickly to Castres.
In the last twenty minutes, you showed unprecedented solidity away from home this season. Did you sense any signs that suggested you would not give up this victory?
No, but we managed to be consistent even when the Lyonnais pushed at the end of the match to come back. I also pay tribute to our scorers who scored 100%, it's thanks to that that we also won the match.
Before this day you were sixth without having won away. With this success in Lyon you have moved to the top of the rankings, how are you experiencing it?
This is what it takes to be in the top 6. It's our first away success, but it doesn't have to be the last if we want to achieve our goals. Now we have to quickly move on to Castres…
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