Christophe Urios (UB manager)
“There is no debate. On the state of mind, they were better than us. On the physical dimension, they hurt us on power. And how they played their rugby and we ours. In this sport, there is a form of logic. Today, the best won. I find it hard to understand why we have been so little sparkling. We were ready, but we couldn’t get in place: was it the physical dimension or the tackles that made us doubt? It’s possible, but we ended up staying in the game for a long time. Tough evening, but logical. »
Mahamadou Diaby (3rd line of the UBB)
“We pushed, we found gaps at the end, but we didn’t have this continuity which would have allowed us to break the line and come back to the score. But when you have a six-point lead 10 minutes from a final, you close ranks: that’s what Montpellier did. (….) Our touch was not as good as expected, the scrum failed to take the lead: those important launch pads were not on top. […] We are gaining experience, reaching the semi-finals is not easy: we can be proud of our career. We must continue, it will eventually smile on us. »
Matthieu Jalibert (UBB opener)
“We had trouble winning, struggling to find speed behind: it was very difficult to win today. We tried things. But the observation is there: we have never managed to find solutions, whether in our system, in our conquest. We wanted to play them wide, but we never had a fast ball. It’s a second disappointment after the semi-final of last season (Editor’s note, against Toulouse). […] We can’t say every year that it’s learning: we had learned the lesson, we wanted to take things in hand, but we simply came across a team more in place than us and who were hungrier . They won almost every collision, we were never ahead. We must not look for an excuse, we did not manage to do what we had planned. »
Olivier Azam (Montpellier forwards coach)
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