Cyril Vilain, coach of the defence, gives us his impressions of the upcoming clash against the tough Aurillac team.
"No it is never simple, when the calendar came out in July and we saw "January 10th in Aurillac". It's not necessarily a good thing because we know the quality of this team at home, they showed it against Oyonnax by going for a positive result. They are still on bonuses outside and a victory against Oyonnax at home. They need to score points for the ranking. We too if we want to consolidate this place in the top 2, so let's not wait for the bad results of the others, it's up to us to go looking for victories and we have to be able to do it whether it's Aurillac or anywhere else. As far as Friday night's game is concerned, we're expecting a complicated game.
The guys have been pretty serious over the holidays. The physical tests have been pretty positive. Now it's up to us to put our heads back in the fight because it will be essential on Friday night, we can talk about rugby, about playing, about putting on speed but if we don't respond present in the fight we won't exist in Aurillac. It will allow us to get our heads back in the right place and quickly forget the match against Oyonnax, which was good in terms of content and commitment, but in Aurillac it will be a completely different match.
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE BLOCK
Difficult block with the months of January/February: 8 games, 5 moves, Perpignan at home. We've got a lot of players coming back, we've got a fairly large squad, we've also had a lot of spinning during this first phase, the aim is to keep it going and show that everyone can play, everyone can have their place. There are no senators in this team, it's the strength of the team that will bring out the individual players (as we did against Oyonnax). This block of matches will be played with a good 30 players, it's up to us to keep up the momentum. There are some important players who weren't there in the first phase, who weren't on the pitch against Oyonnax and we were able to show great qualities. I think we've got quite a large squad and we're going to test them out. The depth of the squad is also important to prepare well for the end of the season and to be able to count on as many players as possible.
It's about getting points from each trip, of course, and winning as we did at the start of the season, and above all doing better, showing a different face, especially in Vannes and Biarritz during the last few trips. We need to rediscover the qualities we showed at the start of the season, a team that is present in the fight and a team that is also capable of having a strategy adapted to away matches and performing well at the foot. To have a solid defence, to be able to alternate a little, to be able to use the footwork a little more as we have been able to do and then to keep our attacking qualities. To be able to score in phases of conquest, to be present in the scrum, to be able to go and get penalties and balls. The aim is to score points."
Auteur : FCG Rugby