The MHR, despite an incomplete performance, won with the offensive bonus against a weak Pau team on Saturday (30-3). But several lights have turned green, signs of definite progress.
The signs are unmistakable. Even without being excellent, even without managing to achieve a bunch of highlights, the MHR managed to win with the offensive bonus against Pau (30-3). A five-point victory, acquired in the very last moments after an incredible finale, is a great first for the Joan Caudullo staff. “This kind of match, a few months ago, we didn’t win with the offensive bonus. We’re progressing”appreciates the Montpellier manager.
First, its strengths remain solid. The scrum, the best sector of the season, crushed its opposition to Béarn with 6 penalties recovered, while its Georgians (Abuladze, Karkadze, Japaridze) were spared for this meeting. And the second best defense in the championship, a sign of a united team, lived up to its reputation with only three points conceded.
In his areas of improvement, Billy Vunipola's teammates have shown enormous progress, even if they remain to be put into perspective given the low level displayed by the Palois. The touch was impeccable with a 100%, the first of the year. The automatisms are arriving little by little. Then, the ground game. The Héraultais showed great domination with five balls recovered in the rucks. Whether it's by scratching, or by knocking down open scrums.
“Benson (Stanley, in charge of contact attitudes) gives us a different perspective in these phases, and so much the better for us. He's great”recognizes Caudullo, first to put his deputies forward (Battut, Bès, Doumayrou, Paillaugue, Valls…).
2nd general if…
Once all these areas are perfectly mastered, it will be time for the MHR to accelerate the attack. In the three-quarter game, the room for improvement is considerable. Especially if this staff wants to offer more movement.
Last positive point, the ability of the Montpellier residents to have finished this meeting well. “We want to better control our end of the match. Before the break, after nine days, we had this anecdotal but telling statistic. If the scores remained frozen at half-time, we were 2nd in the general ranking. So score these two tries in end of the match against Pau allows us to move forward”assure encore Joan Caudullo.
Next week, it's a completely different piece that the MHR will tackle. The Hérault club travels to Bordeaux-Bègles, second overall. All the sliders will have to be at least as high if he wants to get points, or even moved up a notch or two.
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