Disappointed after being eliminated by La Rochelle (29-34), the director of rugby pointed out his team's limitations in this high-level match.
What is the feeling that prevails after this setback?
La Rochelle should be congratulated. They had a great match. They were opportunistic in the first two attempts. My team missed the floor match. We took control. I don't know how many balloons we lost. We didn't fight. There was no match in the floor match. We didn't know how to record. We were not effective. We must congratulate La Rochelle, who deserved their victory. We had two counter-attacks which hurt the team. We're not far from a break. At the break, we told ourselves that we should not fall under pressure from La Rochelle. They played at our house. We have lost track of the strategy. We played a lot in camp. We can't get rid of the defense he played into.
But La Rochelle often committed mistakes on the ground in the first period.
After a while I told myself that there would be yellow. But we made mistakes. They didn't just make mistakes. They made counter moves. They were at the limit, but effective. The referee took them down in the second half. It was up to us to be precise, but we weren't. Realism is the turning point in the game. We had to prevent them from coming to our camp, because they were dense behind them. They were better than us in this regard.
Wasn't your team's offensive sterility also a turning point in this match?
(hesitates) I don't think so. We were there in the first period. We lacked personality. We lost the ground game. very Difficult. We weren't there. This is usually our strength in matches. We had a lot of waste and a lack of realism. We got off the ball a lot. It's a team that, to put them under pressure, we had to keep them defensive and keep the ball. But, tonight, I have regrets about the ground game. We are the team that scratches the most. We are a very strong team in this field. We were not there this evening. They took us. It must be recognized. I regret that we were in the game in the first half. We were there. There was a lack of realism. We didn't have a single clean ball. They have always been complex balls to play. It was a border defence. It was very difficult. You don't have to control the balloons to pop them. It was unplayable.
What lesson should your group learn from this match?
You have to learn about the season. These are the matches we have to analyze. We must come back stronger and better. We didn't show our true colors even if La Rochelle had a good face. We will come back a little better. La Rochelle has a lot of experience. She won titles. We are back to a very high level. The season is not a disaster, but it is difficult to lose at home. We have to learn from this and come back better. Thank the audience. The players should be proud that they have taken the club there, that they have reconnected with the fans, with these people and this area. I'm disappointed for the players, but I want to thank them. It's been a complicated and difficult season with the World Cup. It's been six years since we were there, we got there, but it stopped.
Do you regret not hiring your best team in Paris?
(Blows) I just lost a dam, you're talking to me about Paris. If you introduce injured players, this cannot be done. I don't have to justify myself about injured players. It is an artificial pitch. There are things you don't know. We lost by three points there. thus. I feel regret today, not last week.
