On the sporting level, the descent of Biarrots already seemed to have taken place, when the Pau neighbors came to hold their heads under water. A spoiled party in Aguilera, the bankruptcy of too many an exhausted collective, showered cold by the demands of the elite. “There is always this balance to be found between pushing the players and pulling them, analyzes Shaun Sowerby. We made a lot of effort without being rewarded. Rugby, like life, is ruthless. Frustrating elite. After Pau, the president of the BO, castigating 80% of the team, even had the “impression” that “the whole earth” was complaining. The symptoms of a disease.
“We said to ourselves that we had to be on the same wavelength”
All for one
And then… “The match against Toulon served as medicine for us”, as Steve Barry says. The arrival of the RCT, two months after the last time, did not serve to qualify the Biarrots in the round of 16 of the European challenge. They already were. But she gave them back the taste of victory, after five defeats in a row. A small bandage in the heart that must be kept glued. “I don’t know if it will last, but it did us good,” praises the Charente winger.
Before facing the Wasps this Friday, before this “last carrot” as Steffon Armitage and Steve Barry said a week apart, the group had to find its essence. “We said to ourselves that we had to be aligned, on the same wavelength. It is essential in rugby and it has failed us several times this season, ”assumes Lucas Peyresblanques, captain this Friday.
The pre-match week ended on Wednesday with the last training. A light preparation coated with excitement. This common feeling, inseparable from the flavor of the final stages, is made possible by the European challenge. It’s “one more game at home” which “you have to take advantage of”, sums up Shaun Sowerby without getting carried away.
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