At the end of this meeting, the people of Narbonne were divided between pride at having caused the Poitevins to falter, disappointment at not having even brought back a point from Vienne, and distrust of the refereeing…
The president of the Centurions Narbonne Bastien Anglade at the end of the game, even though his team had just lost, showed a calm face. Like a smile mixed with slight regret. “It’s the first time I’m happy to have lost”he blurted.
By that, mean that he had just experienced a superb match in an inhabited room, especially since he had just acquired the near certainty that he would not relive the trouble of last season with his posture torn with the teeth in spring.
“We really didn’t get far this evening in Poitiers. I’m very proud of my players. They didn’t collapse. They gave everything. We can have ambition for the future. There is disappointment naturally. We would have deserved a point. These are great promises that we saw on the floor. “
We were treated like a small team
If there is one who seemed dejected by this result, it is the new Narbonne central Ibrahim Touré. He railed against arbitration. Notably this foul called at the net at the end of the game when Narbonne had just scored. Fault it is true totally non-existent… “We deserved a point yes, two even”, insisted Touré.
Coach Rafael Redwitz said he was proud of the performance of his players: “We started very well and even if we slowed down, we never collapsed. We have the courage to come back well in the fourth set. There is character there.”
Finally, Redwitz, who hesitated for a long time before raising this subject, pointed to arbitration: “Unfortunately I feel like we were treated like a small team. We were disrespected. It’s unfortunate.”
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