Nearly 5 months after their last match, Stéphane Glas and FCG finally get back on the field on Friday with a first game of preparation against Toulon.
How's the group, the staff?
"Listen, it's going pretty well. We're still a bit nervous after the Covid tests we regularly undergo, but the last ones were all negative. We're expecting the next ones at the end of the week, before the Toulon game. What's furthermore, we haven't had too many injuries, not too many players injured, so it's also satisfactory at that level. "
This year, the preparation for the preseason is particularly long.
" First of all, we would have liked to finish the previous season. Secondly, it's true that we've never had three months to prepare for a season. That obviously gives us a lot of comfort and allows us to work well, even if the Covid protocol required us to adapt a little during the first few weeks. This long preparation also allows us to have three friendly games, which we've been able to work on. "
The squand was reduced and rejuvenated this summer. Do you manage a group like this the same way? Aren't you more demanding?
"It's true that there were 17 or 18 departures and 9 arrivals, which is not a lot. We've taken versatile players. We did have a fairly large squad last season. Now we're going to have a slightly smaller squad. We're also going to rely a lot on the youngsters at the academy, which we've been doing for the last few seasons. You have to be demanding, but I think they're still players who are demanding. The youngsters who have joined us are doing good training sessions, they're getting up to the level of more experienced players. That's good news. "
The first preparation game is on Friday against Toulon. It will be above all an opportunity to find the atmosphere and rhythm of a rugby match?
"It's a first game to get back in touch with the pitch. Even if we do it in training, it will be a real opposition, we haven't played a game for several months now, since March. All the players are impatient to start playing live again. It also gives us the chance to put things back on the offense and the defense and the setpieces, and to see where we're at, without necessarily being under the pressure of the result. But it also allows us to do a broad review of the squad with all the players from the academy who have been involved in preparing for the season. It's always good to see those games. What's more, this season we can play three of them. Usually we never really have time to get things settled, often with two friendly games. It was going by very quickly. This will allow us to correct certain things, to see certain players evolve from one week to the next. "
Auteur : FCG Rugby