It was the men of Pierre-Henry Broncan, CO manager, who set the pace. By deploring that the so simplistic label “irreducible Gauls of French rugby” with which they have been decked out since…
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It was the men of Pierre-Henry Broncan, CO manager, who set the pace. By lamenting that the simplistic label of “irreducible Gauls of French rugby” which they have been decked out for so long now has resisted the first place in which they finished the regular phase.
“We don’t hide it, it’s a bit like this image that we can have of us, squeaked the back Julien Dumora. But we also know that we can play good rugby: we are sure of our strengths, we are not just the small Gallic village. »
Through the voice of Philippe Saint-André, the latter followed suit by not considering themselves sufficiently considered. A little story carried by the accent of self-persuasion that the manager of the MHR also took up on Saturday evening: “I would have liked a little more respect for my players. […] We finished second after 26 days, we were first for nine days, we have guys who play as a team. »
Between “painful”
Although they play as much as they feed on it, one can understand the annoyance of CO and MHR. Respectively first and second in the regular phase, these two teams absolutely did not usurp their place in the final. But despite all their merits, it must however be recognized that this remake of the insipid 2018 poster won by the Castres is certainly not the poster that the promoters of the Top 14 dreamed of. And this even if the representatives of the League and Canal + will not dare to say it…
Why so much hate? Quite simply because Castrais and Montpellier, respectively finalists for the fourth and third time since 2011, have not aroused the same attacking enthusiasm carried by charismatic French internationals as Stade Toulousain, UBB, Stade Rochelais or even Racing. .
Ultra-aggressive, burning in commitment, the Montpellier residents, whose image was damaged by the South African drip during the Jack White years (2014-17), have also recognized it themselves. “We don’t let go, we hang on, enthused Olivier Azam, in charge of the forwards of the MHR. We had already done it at the end of last season to save the club, this year, we said it at the start of the season, we want to be difficult to play. »
Defense and efficiency
It succeeded. If the Héraultais demonstrated during the first act against the Bordelais their ability to move the ball, their game is most often frontal. Ultra-realistic in the scoring areas, they favor kicking (26 per game on average this season, a record).
Undoubtedly kings in the category of “difficult to play”, the Castres have changed their palette. “The Castres collective has changed,” promised Julien Dumora. “The game project has been modified by developing a little more the standing game, the game after contact, also having better communication on the field, explained before the semi-finals Pierre-Henry Broncan. We put a lot of emphasis on that, which allowed us to have “offensive flashes”. »
CO DNA may have been oxygenated but its main strengths are still the same. An immense character at the service of a game built like a marvel of balance and coherence.
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