I find last week’s (15-16 in Top 14) hurt more. We were not ready for this. So sure, it hurts from the sheer size of the score, the feeling of not being invited to the game, there wasn’t much tension. We were beaten better than us, physically we couldn’t handle it. Congratulations La Rochelle. We should have won the game last week. There, today, there is no photo. The counter didn’t work, neither did the throws. Defensively, we struggled with inside returns. It’s a complicated time.
Do you still believe in qualification?
It’s hard to believe when you have 18 points to climb and you’re going to La Rochelle. Although I said we had to play four halves, we lost the first two. We should be proud to play the other two. That will be our goal. We’ll see how it goes. But I haven’t dreamed for a long time.
The UBB still suffers from this lack of realism close to the lines…
We had to score just before half time in the heats close to the lines to turn things around, we couldn’t, so it was complicated after that. But that’s not what hurt us today. What hurts us is our physique. We suffer. We suffer because we have many absentees, we can’t get the boys back… If we get them back, they’ll come out. We cling.
Are you concerned about this for the future?
No. We just need to bring in people to run the boys. Today Nans (Ducuing) was recovering after a month and a half of absence and a week of training in the legs. It is not easy. We let him play because we don’t have much choice. That’s what’s hard. I’m not worried about it because we’re going to find players, it’s going to change the dynamics of the work. Finally I hope. We pay for all these injuries, these relapses. Today I thought the group was old. I saw an old team on the field, which required a lot of enthusiasm.
In February, after the defeat to Racing 92, you said you loved these somewhat difficult times. Is it always like this?
It doesn’t scare me, I know where we’re going. We look for solutions, we work hard, we suffer. It’s good to suffer. I never panic. Players don’t give up.
Did the fact that the UBB suffered several narrow defeats not hide some shortcomings?
