France Bleu Gironde: How do you explain what happened during this final?
Yannick Bru : We saw very quickly that we lacked energy in everything. From the first twenty minutes, we lost easy balls, missed tackles. And we saw that we were not invited. And against Toulouse when you lose the arm wrestling, they break your wrist on the table. We knew before the match that a dark scenario could happen. We saw the punch and the aggressiveness of the Toulousains. The lesson is that to compete in the final phase with a Formula 1 like that, you have to go straight to the semi-finals. It’s very difficult when you’ve been through the play-offs.
Should Matthieu Jalibert have played?
To beat Toulouse when you are not the favorite, you have to try a poker game and put your 23 best players on the field. We would have included 23 other people from Bordeaux, I think the result would have been identical. Matthieu wanted to play this match but he made it clear to us that he would not be able to accelerate 100%. Matéo Garcia was almost unavailable. Matthieu put himself at the service of the collective. I fully take responsibility for having aligned it. And I thank him for that.
How did you experience it from the sidelines?
On the sidelines, it’s tough. For the players too, they don’t deserve this. When the infernal Toulouse machine gets going, it’s impossible. At the end of the match we concede a try on every play. So we keep quiet and tell ourselves that we’re going to learn from it for the future. We have to congratulate Toulouse. We’re not at that level. It feels like a humiliation but let’s not forget that we still invited ourselves to the final with them. And that’s not the true face of UBB, not the image we’ve given all year. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to our supporters who have always been there. Because it tarnishes the image of UBB.
What did you say to Maxime Lucu, whom you went to console at the end of the match?
I told Max not to cry. We’re upgraded, we weren’t invited today. There are 20 points too many. At the end of the match, Toulouse was euphoric and we lost our minds. We are in a state of energy which did not allow us to compete. But we are in year 1 of the project. We will be better next year. Slaps like that remind you of a lot of humility, a lot of work, a lot of progress. This must be a driving force to prepare for tomorrow. I hope that next year, it will be a driving force for us to rise to this technical and athletic level. What is a disaster for us today should not tarnish everything that the players have done well this year.
