Rugby: Montpellier is hungry before facing Lyon for the first day of Top 14

Lenni Nouchi et ses partenaires vont retrouver les Lyonnais pour la première journée de Top 14. Jean-Michel Mart

After a difficult season, Montpellier hopes to get back on track, with a first test at home against Lyon, this Saturday, September 7.

An impatience mixed with pressure and a hint of nervousness. For his first time at the head of the MHR, Joan Caudullo does not hide. “I have a little pressure, it's normal I think. I want it to work. We do everything for it, in any case, the whole staff”, he nevertheless smiled Thursday at a press conference.

“We want to be there and especially the players, they are the ones who play. We had a good week of training, they want to fight. They want to move on”, continues the former hooker. Because this MHR owes revenge to everyone. To himself first, but also to his supporters after a nightmarish last season that almost sent him to Pro D2.

“Last season, we didn't succeed. This year, we will try to show a better image of the players. First of all, we want to win matches. We'll think about the rest later", warns captain Lenni Nouchi.

Like him, Arthur Vincent only found the group after his return from selection. But he was able to taste “a very, very good atmosphere on and off the pitch. We want it to translate every weekend. It's great to have found a group with a lot of appetite, demanding and who wanted to work, impatient to attack this new season. I hope that it will change a lot of things in this sense.”

Because we will have to change a lot of things to avoid reliving the hell of this 2023-2024 season. The arrival of a new staff and around fifteen players, supposed to rebalance a squad considered shaky, should help to remedy some of the problems. For the rest, it will certainly take a little patience to see the MHR return to the top level.

“A big desire against Lyon”

“We don't forget the access match where two minutes from the end, you're in Pro D2, breathes Joan Caudullo. We were all in the same boat. It's difficult. But in any case, we made sure, for a month and a half, to move on. With new faces, with new leaders who can help turn the page. And that means a big match and a big desire against Lyon on Saturday.”

Lyon, the last visitor to the GGL last season, left with a small thrashing (41-26), should offer a completely different face for this first outing. Montpellier is nevertheless hoping for a similar outcome, so as not to encounter any obstacles on the first day.“We didn't set ourselves a specific goal. Because when you finish thirteenth in the standings, you don't allow yourself to say that you have to finish in the top six, tempers Joan Caudullo. I think it's a lack of respect for this Top 14 and all these teams that are getting structured and that are very difficult to beat today. But we set ourselves a goal of points over the first nine games. And then, from there, we'll see something else."

In the meantime, we'll have to negotiate this first at the GGL, despite the weather conditions that are expected to be terrible. This could benefit the MHR, which showed in preparation that it intended to rely on its strength. "Last year, we won the first match before losing eight in a row. The goal is to have continuity in what we do. Victory is one of our goals”, concludes Lenni Nouchi.

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