Special Envoy to San Sebastian
“We are obviously disappointed. It is the third semi-final in a row that we have lost. We learned again. Over the past four years, we are probably the third best French team, but we can see that we still have a small “gap” to overcome in order to be able to “match” with these teams and play for the title.
“I’m not sure (that it penalized us). There are a few situations that can be better negotiated. With a little more experience, it will be things that we may not do next season. We could perhaps have stuck to the score a little more. In the second half, we fight a little harder, we take them to the breaking point. But they manage to get back three points and they put us back at a distance.
“At one point, they are at fourteen (after Paul Boudehent’s yellow card, editor’s note) and we enter into an exchange of “ping-pong rugby” which does not suit them well. We would have liked to capitalize on that but we didn’t. Afterwards, there are other errors, in particular on the balls carried, where we defend very badly, we must not hide it. There are things to improve.”
“In terms of rugby, I don’t feel like we haven’t seen much. In front, we did not move enough, not enough things offered to our three-quarters. We will review this match to build on it next season. From this season, we have a lot to take away because we had character to get this far. We fought because in November (dismissal of Christophe Urios, editor’s note), many gentlemen who have the microphones here thought that we would be twelfth at the end of the season and we are there anyway (in the final phase) . We know we can count on each other. It hasn’t been a season for nothing. We had promised ourselves that it would not be a season for nothing, we did it. Now, we know that the very high level, Toulouse, La Rochelle, is something else again. We still have a step to take.”
“I remember that it has been three years since we qualified (in the Top 14 or in the Champions Cup). The club has progressed, we are on the move. We held standards by going to the semi-finals in the competitions we played. The club had never done that before. We had a cycle of four where we made progress. Now we are on the right path, we have gained experience, we have to retain it. But now we have to move on to another step. The next step is to play finals and win titles. I think we are on the right track.”
“In fact, for four years, each team that we meet in the final phase (of the championship or of the European Cup) is champion. Will this be confirmed? We will see for La Rochelle. It would be good for a player like Romain Sazy. It’s a career that I admire: he stayed at his club for years, that’s kind of what I try to do in Bordeaux. He lifted two European Cups, that inspires me a lot. I hope for him that he will raise a Brennus.