Top 14 – Cheikh Tiberghien (Bayonne): “Fabien Galthié told me that I had to continue working to get the jersey”

Bayonne has lost its last four matches. How are you getting through this bad patch?
In fact, it hurt us a lot. We were not far from the race for the top six and we are now in the race to maintain it. In two games, we changed, but we knew it. The championship is very tight and a defeat at home could hurt us. There, that’s two. Four defeats are a headache, but we tried to stick together and continue working as we were doing. The goal is to finish the season well, because we have to leave the club in the Top 14.

What do you think will be the key to getting out of this?
The most important thing will be group solidarity, forty players and our rugby. This is what allowed us to get six defensive bonuses away from home, even if it’s hard not to have won a match on the road.

On a daily basis, have you noticed any changes since you launched into the race to stay?
No. Our work remains the same. In their heads, everyone knows it. We didn’t put any extra pressure on ourselves. Everyone already has the pressure every weekend. There’s no point in turning your head upside down after this bad experience. We continued to work, maybe a little more. There are few matches where we beat the opponent. Every time, at home, we were under pressure. Outside, there were also some to finally go get something. So there, maybe there is additional pressure, but we didn’t put it on ourselves in the group. I don’t think it’s of much use. On the contrary, it could do us a disservice.

What do you expect from the match against Racing?
We all remember the first leg. Racing was leading the score and we managed to turn everything upside down with this try from Rémy Baget at the end. I think that in Racing, they have not forgotten it. This team goes to 10,000, it is incredible in speed and commitment. In my opinion, we will be received. We are expecting a very big match, physical, with a lot of speed.

For this match, Racing will benefit from the return of Josua Tuisova…
A team does not win with a player, but Tuisova, it is sure that it is better to have him with than against you (smile). It’s an X factor, ultra-dangerous. You will have to be very careful with him.

You will play this match at Abbé Deschamps, the AJ Auxerre venue. What does it change ?
For us, at surface level, it doesn’t change anything, because it’s still grass. Racing is used to synthetics, where things go even faster. Afterwards, I don’t think the surface can completely change a match. It can slightly intensify a match, but it’s still rugby, with a big team facing you. I’m not sure that Racing is that disrupted by not playing on synthetics.

As a football fan, does going to play in this venue bring a special flavor?
It’s cool, yes. I had already really loved playing the match against Toulon at Anoeta, even if there was this big downside with the defeat. There, it will be in Auxerre. I have no connection with the AJA at all, I don’t follow it, but it remains a football stadium. There must be a special atmosphere. I don’t know Abbé Deschamps at all. I don’t even know how busy it is. 18,000? It remains a small football stadium, like a rugby stadium. In the photos, it reminds me of the Castres stadium.

This weekend you could face Max Spring, whom you knew in the youth teams at Rowing. What relationship did you have?
With Max, we played together for a year, in Crabos. We left the club at the same time (2019). Now we’ve grown apart, but back then we were pretty good friends. I got along very well with him, just as I get along very well today with his brother Tom. Max is a very good guy on a human level. At the player level, we know his qualities. He is extremely dangerous, goes fast, has support and tries things.

Have you asked his brother, Tom, for tips on how to stop him?
No, he remains fraternal and says nothing (smile).

You, with Max, left Rowing with the label of great hope at the rear position. Today, you are two starters in the Top 14. It’s a success…
Yes, for the moment, it’s working for us. Since my departure in 2019, I have played a lot professionally in Clermont, then Bayonne. He’s the same. He seems to have found his place, he continues.

How do you view your season so far?
I found the beginnings a little sluggish. There was a change of club, of teammates… That plays into it. Afterwards, I play better than at the beginning. I evolved on certain points, I found myself with my partners, the staff. I’m very happy with my season so far. I hope it continues and gets better and better.

Against Bordeaux, I was in a day without

You have never played as much in the Top 14 as this season…
You teach me. Since the start of the season, I have only missed two matches. It’s cool to be able to continue, when you perform well and the staff trust you. I wasn’t injured, apart from when I had a little scare which made me miss two matches. Knock on wood to keep it going.

You broke the screen against Paris in mid-April. What can you tell us about your match and your understanding with Camille Lopez that day?
With Camille, we get along very well off the field. I had the chance to play with him in Clermont, I know his game. I can anticipate what he is going to do. Camille reads the game like few players know how to do. He manages to anticipate my races. We manage to find each other quite a bit, it’s cool. I was happy with my match in Paris, but the defeat tainted my performance and that of my teammates. Behind, against Bordeaux, I had a very, very bad match. It proves that I still have a lot of things I need to improve on.

Exactly, what happened during this meeting against UBB, where you missed almost everything?
I had a chat with the manager after the match. There was no particular reason for that. The weather was very complicated for a back, but it was the same for everyone. That’s not an excuse. My preparation was the same as usual. I was in an off day. I don’t know if people from the outside can understand it, but every rugby player has experienced it and will experience it again. It’s the only match where I really had a bad match. There must be as little as possible, that’s the objective. After a bad match, you just have to switch and not put your head under water.

How do we “do not put your head under water”, after a failed match?
The first thing is to know that you were not good, to admit it and to look at what you did wrong. In this case, against Bordeaux, that was almost everything. But I know that it’s not my level and that I can do better. This is my worst match since I arrived at Rowing. We must not repeat the same mistakes.

Before missing out on your match against Bordeaux, you put out some solid performances, so much so that your name is starting to circulate today as a potential candidate for a tour this summer. How do you experience it?
Well, it’s cool to know his name is getting around like you say. Afterwards, nothing happened yet. It’s always nice to say that your performances this season have been noticed and that there is, a bit, a carrot at the end. It encourages you not to give up and do even better. Today, others are better than me. The Holy Grail for any player is to play for your country. It would only be more, for me.

The coach, Fabien Galthié, was in Bayonne at the start of the week. Were you able to exchange?
Yes, we crossed paths. We talked a little bit.

What did he tell you?
That he had noticed my season, that I had done things well, things not so well and that we had to continue to find what there was to look for. That’s all. We didn’t talk for very long. Fabien told me that I had to continue working to get the jersey, that he wasn’t offering it.

Has this summer’s tour become a goal?
The French team, I don’t even have one foot in it. I have both feet outside, just the tip of my nose. It’s clearly a goal to go there, but my first goal is to finish the season well and maintain Rowing. It’s primordial. You have to do things in order. If I finish the season well, if I perform well, maybe there will be a reward… On the other hand, if I only think about the French team and forget about the matches with ‘Rowing, there will be no cape.

Have you already planned your vacation this summer?
Imagine that I bought tickets to go see my family in Senegal, but I will wait until the last moment to find out if I can go or not (smile).