Toulouse has built its success in particular on Racing thanks to a big domination in the scrum… Cyril Baille: In this sector, the questioning is permanent, every weekend, we want to be as efficient as possible. There it worked, but if next weekend it doesn’t, we’ll get screwed. You can have three or four scrums in a match, and they can be completely different. It worked well, we had focused on working well on this and showing solidarity. But this is not a truth, nor an end in itself.
Did you expect to dominate this match so much? Honestly not. But, from the start of the match, we had the facts of the game that were for us. We quickly scored, it allowed to put the trend in our favor. Afterwards, at half-time, we were at 20-0, that could also be a trap. We said to ourselves that we shouldn’t give up and we continued to put our feet to the floor because we feared this Racing team. We know that they can make differences on any action. We saw it at the end of the match where they scored two tries.
When the score is heavy at the end of the match, do you think about preserving yourself for the final? Subconsciously, when you take the score like that, there is perhaps a form of relaxation. We took two tries at the end of the match, we have to manage to correct it for next week. These are small details. When you are in front of the score, you tend to relax.
That way, you give your staff something to grind on…You have to give them a little work! (Laughs) More seriously, this year they knew how to manage the group. They give 200%, we are happy for Ugo (Mola) and all the staff. It rewards them too. They are all there for us, it is also for them that we go to Paris.
We feel that Stade Toulousain has regained confidence in himself, in his game… We try to question ourselves. Last season hurt us a lot. We also learned a lot. We try to be there every time. There, we were still in the semi-finals and we are going back to Paris. For the moment, we do not realize too much but it is phenomenal. When we’re 10 years older, we’ll talk about it over a beer. You have to sink your teeth into it.
Was the disappointment of the semi-final loss to Leinster easy to shake off? It was very hard to digest. It was the third time we lost in Dublin. We are a group of competitors and when we lose, we are never happy. Especially when you take a rugby lesson like that… But, even if you have the balls, it continues to make you learn.
Do you have a preference between La Rochelle and UBB for the final? These two teams are among the four best teams of the season. Either way, it will be very complicated. A final is so special, it depends on so many things…
And you went to commune with your supporters at the end of the match… We are lucky to be supported like that. Today, there were a lot of Toulouse people. We felt the excitement around our hotel, we heard a lot of shouting while we ate, it was quite funny. It’s also for them, for the city. They are happy to come. And in Paris, I think there will also be a lot of people next week.
