Colomiers. Jules Soulan: “Nevers offers a bigger volume of play”

the essential
Back to competition last Saturday against Oyonnax, after more than a month of absence, the opening half Jules Soulan takes stock of the next event: the reception of Nevers, tomorrow night.

Your return was rushed last Saturday because you were not initially foreseen on the scoresheet …

Absolutely. Alexis Palisson had a break in the hamstring and seeing that I was originally 24th man, I slipped on the scoresheet in place of Maxime Laforgue who started out. But you should know that I did not resume until Thursday with the group because of the Covid.

Is it easy to come back in the game after this period that you had in a game where it hits hard and where the game is restrictive?

We were already expecting this match from Oyonnax. They are dense and they are not second for nothing… We were faced with a super well organized team with a very precise strategy and tactics. They managed to lock us in there, by mounting “cahors” (kick over) throughout the first half in very complicated areas. So certainly, it’s not very nice to see but it works. It was difficult to live nervously from the sidelines, and on the pitch, it makes you doubt.

When you got back, what were the instructions?

The goal was to stay at home and not expose yourself like at the start of the game. It was also necessary to try to put a little play to make the difference.

You miss a penalty which can be that of winning four minutes from the end …

It’s frustrating because it’s my first failure of the season in the penalty shootout. Thomas Girard was tired and he knew that I had been confident in this sector since the start of the season. We had seen during the warm-up with Thomas and Sébastian Poet that it was cold and that we had a little trouble extending our kicks on the forty and fifty. So I forced my kick too much, when I had plenty of distance… I shouldn’t have.

Place in Nevers now. You have little time to vent the frustration since you are already playing Thursday. It’s a new big piece that arrives …

It’s certain. Afterwards I think that on strategy, they pay less attention to this pressure game. Their hinge is not the same as that of Oyonnax and they also had a lot of injuries. On the other hand, they offer much more volume of play than Oyonnax. They move the ball and they are solid on the confrontation. Their defense is a little similar to that of Oyonnax, on the laterality. It will be an interesting new game to play.

Colomiers has always struggled in recent seasons against Nevers. Except last season when you beat them twice. Did you break free from a complex?

Be careful, Nevers is a team that is in place. And last season, we must not forget that they gave us big problems on the outward and return leg. We expect a more open game than against Oyonnax. They carry the ball more and I think it’s a game that suits us better, also for our defense. We will have to succeed in putting our game in place this time.

–