Montpellier won both regular phase matches against Les Rochelais (1). Did you find the key?
Oh, I think Stade Rochelais was not the same as today, whereas we were in a more positive period. I am thinking in particular of the return match (23-29) during which we cannot hide it, we had success. They didn’t have their best players either, apart from Uini (Atonio) who was there (Editor’s note, the match took place at the end of January during the XV of France internship). We’re not going to brag. I do not pay too much attention to these matches, it will have nothing to do.
Really ?
In my opinion, La Rochelle is the most dangerous and fittest team in the league. We’ve all had our slumps: Bordeaux a while ago, Toulouse, La Rochelle and now it’s our turn. This competition is close to the heart of the Rochelais, it is a little less the case as far as we are concerned. We were more focused on the championship. But now that we’re here…
–
Montpellier won both regular phase matches against Les Rochelais (1). Did you find the key?
Oh, I think Stade Rochelais was not the same as today, whereas we were in a more positive period. I am thinking in particular of the return match (23-29) during which we cannot hide it, we had success. They didn’t have their best players either, apart from Uini (Atonio) who was there (Editor’s note, the match took place at the end of January during the XV of France internship). We’re not going to brag. I do not pay too much attention to these matches, it will have nothing to do.
Really ?
In my opinion, La Rochelle is the most dangerous and fittest team in the league. We’ve all had our slumps: Bordeaux a while ago, Toulouse, La Rochelle and now it’s our turn. This competition is close to the heart of the Rochelais, it is a little less the case as far as we are concerned. We were more focused on the championship. But now that we’re here…
Your team remains on three defeats in a row (2). Beyond these results, do you detect any worrying signs?
No, not worrying. It’s actually part of our history. We had a very difficult season a year ago which finally ended well (Editor’s note, the MHR had long struggled to maintain it). We restarted with a lot of energy but, because of the Covid postponements that we have now caught up with, this is our fourteenth week in a row. More than fatigue, I think we feel mental fatigue. This resulted in major injuries to important players.
“We are not loved like Stade Rochelais or Toulouse. If we have to use it, let’s do it”
Are you thinking of Paul Willemse in particular?
Yes. Willemse (Editor’s note, hit in the knee), but also before Serfontein, Doumayrou, Arthur Vincent, Reinach… We do not have a bloated workforce, it hurts us. Even if our team is resilient, we need to reinvent ourselves a little on a daily basis. We have drawn a lot on our resources mentally, we arrive a little blunted. Suddenly, at the time of conclusion, we are a little more feverish.
You said a few weeks ago that there would inevitably come a time when you would have to face a big underperformance. Was this backlash predictable?
We showed character even when we lost at the start of the season: we went through 17 games taking at least one point everywhere. It was great in terms of state of mind, but I suspected that there would be a relaxation. We anticipated it by changing our weeks a little but, for me, that’s part of our growth. We will bounce back. We will be ready in particular in the Top 14 to take a few points against Racing to qualify and then we will go to Clermont to rank either in the top four or the top six. The season will have been good, but I think the players want more. So do we, of course.
And the Champions Cup in all this?
It will spin a little. The players who went to Harlequins were not unworthy. There will certainly be a mix between experienced and young players… We’ll see, but as La Rochelle are aiming for this competition, it could be hot with the potential they have.
2 The Montpellier rebound this season
To explain your place as leader, you often say you used last season. How?
In these most difficult times! We didn’t get carried away when we didn’t lose for ten games because we knew where we came from. And in the same way, because things are not going as well now, we are not going to fall into the gloom. We are building something. We are perhaps the Stade Rochelais of four or five years ago: there are moments of euphoria and others where we are less well. A team is built over the long term, we are at year 1 in our content.
On a personal note, you arrived during the season, in January 2021 in the staff. You then experienced the eviction of Xavier Garbajosa… How does that help you?
When I arrived alongside Xavier, I was doing defense. Paradoxically, I liked it even though it’s a bit off-putting. The players have also had a good defense for a long time. When Xavier got kicked out, it took a bit of a rethink. I used our mistakes. I looked at the profiling of our team and the rugby we wanted to do before: it was not possible. We went back to things that the players thought they did best.
That is to say ?
They participated in everything. As they are the ones who put the little stones in the wall, they don’t want it to break. Little by little, we try to hold the ball a little more. But we must not lose our qualities in defense, in gaining ground with the foot. I am not obsessed with first place or the European Cup, I am in a construction process over two or three years now that we have resigned (Editor’s note, until 2025 with Philippe Saint-André, his manager, and Olivier Azam, in charge of forwards). Quiet what…
“The rugby that I like is not quite the one we do today. But it will come”
Where do you identify the trigger in your group?
The little European Cup did us a lot of good last year. I found resources there in men. We used this competition to go for a title: it’s not the biggest, but it’s one nonetheless. When we restarted this season, we said to ourselves that we had found our DNA. We know that we are not liked, this club keeps the image it had a few years ago with the South Africans. We thought that was our strength.
Do you play it?
No. But we have to identify who we are, where we come from and where we are going. But we didn’t really know who we were. And this end of the season has allowed us to know it: we are a team that does not give up, which has a strong mind, which is very realistic. If it’s us, then let’s go! I know where we want to go. It will take time, but there are resources and a quality workforce. We are not loved like Stade Rochelais or Toulouse. If we have to use it, let’s do it. It’s like that.
3 The game of Montpellier and the South African passive
You said there was a “South African liability” in Montpellier. Did you run into it?
I have a La Rochelle training, a Toulouse culture. When I took over, number 9 was South African, number 10 (Pollard), number 12 (Serfontein) and a winger too (Goosen), and our number 13, who was English (Lozowski), was from the Saracens who have a South African culture. They wanted game plans so they could get out of it afterwards because they are capable of it. It was first necessary to use their strengths. This is where we went wrong at the start. The rugby that I like is not quite the one we do today. But it will come.
Does this development satisfy you?
Lately, we have been talking about moving the ball and the men more. But paradoxically, by wanting to develop that, we lost in defensive quality and occupation of the ground. I often speak with Geoffrey (Doumayrou) who is a pure rugby player: if he understands the game of dispossession, he wants to touch balls, attack. He is in a hurry because he is ahead of the game, having experienced the construction of the La Rochelle game. But I tell him that we can’t be. One month before the arrival, we are already doing very well what we know how to do. How long has Ronan O’Gara been there?
Since 2019.
You’re starting to see the maturity in his team. In all areas, they have between 15 and 20/20. They are installed in the top of the French and European basket.
“We may also be a bit over-revving compared to our intrinsic potential”
Evolution in stats
MONTPELLIER, STEP BY STEP. Durably marked by South African DNA, established during the Jack White years (2014-2017), the MHR has long been reduced to a frontal and monolithic animation. A trend built on the profile of the players making up the workforce as explained by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde. The Hérault game therefore retains strong markers: kicking game – one of the teams in the Top 14 which has used it the most for 2 years -, tendency to dispossession (49%, 9th in the Top 14), defensive solidity… But the lines move little by little. The MHR makes more passes after contact (7th in the Top 14 instead of 12th), crosses the line of advantage more (3rd against 9th), scores more tries (7th attack against the 12th last year).
You experienced the 2019 World Cup, integration into a staff, the ousting of a manager… Have you evolved?
I learned by watching the others: the Welsh who were dispossessing the ball, the English who did just that. I learned when I arrived in Montpellier that it was necessary first to focus on the players available before thinking about the game, even if we have great convictions… I won titles in Toulouse when I was, I think, much less good coach than now. My only certainty is that when I won, I had some great players around me. And that is the same everywhere.
Having already won titles, do you feel the little vibrations in Montpellier?
Uh no. I feel that we may also be a bit over-revving compared to our intrinsic potential. The players compensate for our youth with an incredible state of mind. We are overperforming a bit. When I see the game played by La Rochelle, Toulouse, Bordeaux, or even Toulon at the moment, we are not as complete. We haven’t managed too much this season, but you need a lot of freshness when it comes to money-time. […] Afterwards, the story can be magnificent. Because there is that of the men in the locker room: the end of Guilhem Guirado, that of Fufu Ouedraogo, some emblematic who will perhaps leave us. Guys want to do something for them. Even when we lose, they are mobilized. We were touched this weekend (in Lyon), they talked a lot… I feel that there is something going on. But aren’t we too young? I don’t know, I’m not getting carried away.
–
