Aviron Bayonnais has had a successful start to the season. With victories against Agen, Aurillac and Vannes, the Ciel et Blancs are at the top of the Pro D2 table, tied on points with Mont-de-Marsan and Colomiers. And to continue this first block of the championship, it’s Nevers which moves to Jean Dauger this Friday at 8:45 p.m. (live from 8 p.m. on France Bleu Pays Basque). The opportunity to discuss this confrontation and the start of the season with the Bayonne winger, Rémy Baget. The original Tarnais from Rabastens, author of two tries since the start of the season.
France Bleu Pays Basque: Looking back, how do you explain Aviron Bayonnais’ second period last Friday against Vannes? (RCV then scored a 12-3 in 40 minutes)
Rémy Baget: In the second half, however, we left the same, saying that we had to put the pressure back on. We weren’t even talking about the bonus point. We just said to ourselves “we have to continue like this and it will do”. We were just thinking of victory and in the end, the Vannetais responded very well in the second half, they hung on. We still defended well but it was not enough to increase the score. The opposing team was advancing and the referee, each time, favored the advancing team, as often. Penalty on penalty. We also played 10 minutes at 14, which is very hard at this level. And that allowed them to score behind.
Peyo Muscarditz mentioned after this match the need to work on the mental aspect to keep this lead and not repeat this kind of misadventures…
I think that mentally, we are like at the start of each season. We are ready, we think all the time to play hard, but afterwards, collectively, it is above all the collective mind, that the group can all respond at the same time and not a few individuals one after the other. Despite everything, we held on. The players are confident in the defense. We manage to win the impacts, which was not necessarily the case last year or the years before, of course. We still had stats with players at almost 25 tackles or 22 tackles. So it is sure that on defense is something that can reassure us. This defensive cohesion allowed us to win the psychological battle against Vannes.
Nevers arrives Friday (8:45 p.m.) at Jean Dauger. Two victories in three days and a nice new challenge awaits you?
Nevers offers a great game. Up front it’s very strong, mobile too. He plays rugby very well. We know that they will be present and that until the end of the year, they will play at the top of the table. Above all, in all their matches since the start of the season, they have won or lost in a hooked way, against big teams: Vannes (20-16 victory) and Oyonnax (21-18 victory), and on the road to Aix (26 -23). Their schedule wasn’t easy either. It will be up to us to be at the level, throughout the game and put in place what we know how to do.
Personally, we feel you have been liberated on the pitch since the start of the season. How do you explain it?
Already, this year, in collisions, we are advancing a little more, we are more dominant in front. Therefore, we have more balloons behind unlike other years, especially in the Top 14 so, for sure, we are more easily put forward. And then the collective strength means that we manage to defend well and score counterattacks. Afterwards, the confidence of the coaches, of course that helps. In Rowing, there is a huge bench depth and especially on the wing, competition but healthy, so you also have to show that you can be a starter or when you also want to win. It’s positive pressure. All this means that you must not give up and give everything to find a place on the weekend.
What aspects of your game would you like to improve in the future?
People often talk to me about my kicking game, but I think it’s not that bad (laughs). With experience and repetition of matches, I will find which areas of my game to improve.
– SG
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