"A wise eye on the work, not on the result"

How is your return to the professional team staff going?

"Great! Great! The first week was a little difficult. Because we had to get back into the rhythm, get back into our habits, find, a little bit, the reference points. And then, now we're on our way. It feels like we've never really left. Or that we've never really stopped. "

Does it help the many young players in the group that you "went up" with them?

"You should ask them the question. Anyway, I'm delighted to be able to find them with the pro group. That means we work pretty well with young players. It's been a truth for many years at the FCG. That's great, that's great. I am indeed delighted to see them again. I've had some very, very good times with them over the last three years in Espoirs. And join them with this professional group.... Besides, these are boys who are pretty performant. And almost professional, I want to say. It is a real success. And it's a real pleasure. "

How did they handle the preparation?

"Well, quite well. Pretty good. There is a real change from what I may have known in the past. With boys who sometimes arrived, not necessarily by default, but who had a little more trouble. Who were perhaps a little less well prepared. And today, we can see that, among young players, we are becoming more and more precise. In all our physical preparation work and in all the approach to rugby in general. And that the boys, when they get past that stage, come with a lot more tools. And they are much more comfortable with this period of preparation. We do not see anyone completely floundering or dying on the ground, as we have seen in the past. This is a good sign for the future. "

The future, in the very short term, is the preparation match against Lyon. What are the objectives of this first game?

"It's a preparation game. Indeed, we are waiting to see things we worked on in training. Especially things, which we should validate. After that, we know there will be waste. This is not a championship game. We know that Lyon is not playing in the same category as us this year. I don't know how prepared they are. But we know they'll be ready. We're not in a competition, pure and hard. In any case, we're going to be looking for what we've been working on. We'll have a very wise eye on the things the boys are going to put in place, more than on the result. "

Are there any surprises in this group?

"No, overall, it's quite homogeneous. After that, there are always surprises, because there are moments of team life that are quite funny. For the moment, no boy who really stands out from the crowd. We do have the impression that we already have a real team. With boys who want to work together. Who have a good time together. Who encourage each other. Who sometimes cling a little bit to the field. But I think it's a sign of good health. So we're pretty happy. "