For his first press conference with the coaching cap this Thursday, October 3, Benoît Paillaugue, boss of the MHR attack, did not lose his phrasing before the trip to the Stade Français this Saturday.
The video return after Lyon (22-26) was salty. What was it like this Monday after Bayonne (27-26)?
We said what we thought. He was rather muscular at halftime of the match than on Monday. On Monday, we just showed them that the first half was unacceptable for a club like ours. And that the second half was of better quality. This is where we must position ourselves, by being more intelligent and more mature in our match management. Because I think that’s what cost us the game, in addition to the first half, it was especially our last eight minutes.
Does it surprise you that the team can still have hiccups despite early season warnings?
I think this team is rebuilding. There are still some illnesses. Now it’s up to us to try to erase them as quickly as possible. It’s only day four, but we’re still in an emergency right now.
there are things that are improving. But we don’t win, as Bernard (Laporte) said in his last interviews. This team must learn to win.
Is she afraid of winning?
I don’t know anything about it. In any case, in these last ten minutes against Bayonne, we lacked bulbs. On the last try, for example, we let them score close to the posts, while we have to push them to the corner.
Simple things that we thought were taken for granted are not. So, it’s up to us to work on video, to show them, to explain to them over and over again, until it fits.
“Here, everything is cool. The club, the city… There’s not too much pressure for the guys”
Is the balance still fragile?
Of course. It could have been less fragile if we had had a string of victories. I think that this Lyon match is being dragged out a bit. Afterwards, it’s always the same, if we had won Lyon, would we have gone on to win against Perpignan? Toulouse, we are not fighting with them at the moment, but we could have perhaps brought home another point.
Me, in Bayonne, I am disappointed because there was a riot of energy, in the second half in any case, and we would have deserved a little better. We can only blame ourselves for having a first half of this quality. And despite that, you score 27 points in one half against a team undefeated for two and a half years in Jean-Dauger.
Over four matches, that’s twice that the state of mind has been singled out. Is this an area you emphasize?
I think this is a team that we should not let go of. It’s a reaction team. For years. We need to change this mentality. It doesn’t change overnight. Afterwards, I really liked Bernard’s reflections. Everything here is cool. The club, the city… There’s not too much pressure for the guys. It’s up to us to put it on them, it’s up to them to put it on themselves. This is what we will try to instill in the weeks and months to come.
Clubs like Toulon, Toulouse, La Rochelle and Bayonne, they don’t need to put pressure on themselves inside the club because they have it outside. And that’s what we need to be able to instill in guys.
Comment ?
By our state of mind. Already, that of the staff. I think it must also come a little from us. And to instill that in our game leaders. There are some who have it. It has to spread and it takes a little time. But it’s up to us to change this image of the team.
You were talking about a jet team. This was already the case when you were a player.
I don’t like talking about before. But there were guys in the group who managed to keep the pressure off. There, we have to find them. There must be some who impose themselves. There are some who won’t be long. Afterwards, there will be natural selections.
Joan Caudullo admitted wanting to insist on defense and conquest when the team resumes. You who are responsible for the attack, isn’t that too frustrating?
When you bring back a team that is a little bruised, sick, you have to reassure yourself on the basics. The foundations of our sport are combat and aggression. And on that, it’s conquest, it’s the forwards and above all it’s our defense.
Yes, I am frustrated. I’m not going to hide it. But you also have to work with the players you have and try to go little by little. My ego doesn’t take a hit. No way.
We will work in the shadows. And one day, I hope that we will say, that’s it, the three-quarter game has taken the lead and it will move forward. But it is a long-term job. I have a clear idea of what I’m going to do. But it will take time.
“Everything is difficult here, but it must become a strength”
Are you already under a little pressure before going to Stade Français?
It’s part of our job. I am now discovering it on the coaching side. But when you were a player, you were under pressure. When we didn’t win, I was furious.
We’ll see if we have character. We had some in the second half in Bayonne, in Perpignan, a little against Toulouse, at times.
Here we are going to a team which is under pressure, which has already experienced changes. Are we going to be a team which, as is often the case, revives the other teams? Or this time, are we the ones going to stick our heads a little deeper into the bucket? We need to get going again.
Beyond the result, we will be vigilant about behavior. Right now, that’s all it is.
How do you judge the contribution of the recruits?
They must do more. Like the team. Afterwards, it’s difficult when you arrive in a team which doubts, which loses matches. I understand it, I hear it. But at some point, you also have to have character. I think that to play in Montpellier, you have to have character. Everything is difficult here. The environment is complicated. We don’t have good press. Even if it’s okay, we don’t talk about us. That’s how it is. But it has to become a strength, in fact. It’s been like this for years. You have to use it.
And that’s what we need to instill in guys. They must tighten up, they must rely only on themselves. And the young and the new, they must bring us a carefree attitude.
“We want to become a ball-breaking team again”
If you are present in the commitment, do you think you can be competitive again?
We’ll piss people off. And that’s what we want. We want to become a ball-busting team again.
Montpellier has always been like that. We were never great talents. But we were tough. I’m not telling you that at certain times, we didn’t take pickets outside. But we were boring to play. We need to find that.
It’s fine outside for now. We are on a victory and we lose by a point in Bayonne. But it needs to be more constant. We have to play a match full of commitment, ferocity, violence, movement, over 80 minutes. And after that, we certainly won’t be far away.
Saturday, we will be in a context where over there, you know that they have the knife between their teeth. They just fired their coach. It’s the crisis, we only talk about them. If we want to exist, we’re going to have to do this.
From the start, everyone has agreed that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Is this still the case?
Yes, between us, the staff, things are going well. We can have disagreements, but there is always discussion. It’s going very well there. The players seem to be on board. That’s what bothers me, actually. Everyone says it’s good.
After Toulouse, I was tapped on the shoulder: it doesn’t matter. That shocks me. Yes, we see behavior, it’s better. But we lose. So what’s the cool thing? Yes, things are going well, we are living well. The guys agree. We adhere. The fans are happy because there is a better face. OK, but now you have lost two home matches. We come back to what I was saying. It’s up to us to put the pressure on.
Hearing this, at some point, it’s going to piss me off. The guys will end up puking at me, will tell me that I’m just complaining, that I’m never happy. Well yes, we don’t win. So I agree with Bernard, we have to win. You have to pay yourself.
For me, these speeches where people say that it doesn’t matter, everything is fine, they pat you on the back of the shoulder, it horrifies me. It makes me hungry. And it must be tiring for the guys, because they are on the ground. You don’t train all week to lose a match. That doesn’t exist. Or maybe you need to change sports. You’re going to do hopscotch, and that’s it.
