the essential The manager of the US Montauban Pierre-Philippe Lafond was to confess on November 1, two days before the clash in Sapiac against the Columérins inevitably revengeful, after having lost the two rounds of the Midi-Pyrenean derby of Pro D2 last season.
USM manager Pierre-Philippe Lafond is preparing to host Colomiers for the Pro D2 “Fan Days”, Friday November 3 at 7:30 p.m., on a heavy pitch. A real derby that the Montalbanese group, after a week of rest, has been preparing since Sunday.
Pierre-Philippe Lafond, the World Cup is over, the championship is resuming at a more usual pace, what do you think?
There will be no more interludes until the end. We switch to more classic blocks, but shorter than three meetings three times. Then we’ll come back to the four or five consecutive games. We have just had a new experience. We had to find solutions. It was not all success.
What do you think about starting at home in a derby?
There is no case law on this. In any case, all the matches are serious, homogeneous and tough in Pro D2. There is simply an opponent who, whether at home or away, will bravely play his luck. It’s Colomiers, a real derby which corresponds to “fan days”. A big match awaits us.
Colomiers who comes with a vengeful spirit after their two defeats last season and looking for a first performance this season away from home?
We are very vigilant. We know that they had a lot of injuries at the start of the season. It is a very compact team, with a lot of experience and complete in all its lines. We know what awaits us.
Facing Colomiers now will allow us to learn more about our rugby and our character at this stage of the season.
This match will be played in more wintery conditions than what we have experienced so far. What do you think ?
We switched to autumn-winter conditions with soft ground, a very humid ball and wind. A game of dispossession where mastery of the kicking game will be even more important than usual.
Is there a classification to preserve?
I give little importance to the ranking. We are on day nine. We had some great performances, with great moments in Sapiac and Angoulême. We didn’t do everything we wanted. We must continue our evolution. Facing Colomiers now will allow us to learn more about our rugby and our character at this stage of the season. For the ranking, it’s really too early. We were disappointed with our last performance in Grenoble. Our primary criterion is consistency. We must continue with the results.
South Africa which becomes world champion by making seven-one on the bench. Are you considering it?
Today, we don’t have it in stores, maybe it will come. We didn’t plan it for this weekend. Now we look at what is being done elsewhere. South Africa became world champion with this strategy, because it allows them to perform.
Colomiers has not won at Sapiac since December 2019, the visitor’s try was scored by Josua Vici, Alexandre Manukula had played with the visitors, what do you say?
It’s happening so quickly among the staff. I watched the match on television. I was on the Montpellier staff. The numbers have changed a lot. The Montauban – Colomiers of 2023-2024 will have its own history and content. It’s up to us to do it well. This will be a great pair of sleeves. These derbies are always big matches with a lot of intensity, whether in Bendichou or Sapiac. Great to play and coach, there will be some great opposition on Friday evening.
Is the infirmary becoming empty at the USM?
Léo Aouf, Raphaël Sanchez, Fred Quercy have resumed and this will soon be the case for Nicolas Agnesi, Jean-Bernard Pujol and Shaun Venter during this block.
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