Reactions after MHR-Stade Toulousain: “We can't create things”, “A step behind, or even two”

Enzo Forletta's Montpellier players were hampered in the regroupings. MIDI LIBRE – DORIAN CAYUELA

Coaches and players from Montpellier Hérault Rugby and Stade Toulousain appeared at a press conference this Saturday, September 21, a few moments after Toulouse's victory (11-20).

MHR

Léo Coly, MHR scrum-half : “What I feel”? Frustration. As soon as we lose, we are frustrated, especially at home. We were never able to control this match. We still managed to get back in front. But coming out of this sequence before the break without scoring hurts the head and it did Toulouse good. It's a shame not to conclude. Despite all the efforts, we are dying with nine points. We don't feel a big gap in class but in terms of precision and lucidity, we're not yet at the level."

Joan Caudullo, MHR manager :“I have the feeling that we had an interesting first half. There was this moment when we wanted to take the points but we knew the story at the end. Then, we lost too many balls, 22! We have to improve. The players put energy into winning but we have to be more precise. We spent a lot of time at home, which created mistakes. In the second half, it was worse. Very quickly, Toulouse came back with better ambitions than us. Collectively, we were not as good as them.

We couldn't create things. We're having a lot of trouble putting things in place, that's going to be the work of the next few weeks. We shouldn't question everything. We're preparing for two trips to get points back."

Enzo Forletta, MHR pillar :“That's two home defeats. It was to be expected when you see the quality of today's opponent. We're frustrated but we have to face the facts, there's a gap between them and us, maybe even two. We have to work. I'm not going to remind you where we come from. It's points at home that mean we have no confidence, no continuity in our work. We have to work. We know what we have to do. It's going to be tough. We can only count on ourselves.

I was talking to some friends who were saying that Toulouse, we have to take them up front. But the guys, they're killers in defense. In the rucks, they are too strong. They are the best club team in the world, we are not going to hide it. They respect the pattern. They are not at the top for nothing. It takes a lot of work to at least try to compete. They come to counter-ruck, they know how to play the shots, they do everything in order."

Stade Toulousain

Anthony Jelonch, third row of Stade Toulousain : “My first start of 8 on scrum ? It's certainly been a while since I had tasted it. It feels good to get back on the pitch with my mates, it's just a bonus. It had been planned for a while even though I've been well for 2-3 months. We had planned with the surgeon. I've been injured for seven and a half months, I've been back on the pitch for a month. I wasn't going around in circles but I was able to work on my upper body, I was able to come back all fired up. I feel like I hadn't played for two weeks. It was natural. The crowd making noise is nice."

Pierre-Louis Barassi, from Stade Toulousain : "We scared ourselves a bit at the end of the first half. In the locker room, we told each other things, we wanted to show a completely different side. It's this second side that matters to us. We finished with four points, that's good.

What we said at half-time? We didn't live up to what we had planned. We lacked intensity, that's what allowed them to stay in their game, we didn't capitalize. After half-time, we corrected the situation. We came back well. Which we didn't do last week. We put in a lot of intensity, even if we were penalized quite a bit."

Jean Bouilhou, Stade Toulousain coach: "The satisfaction is really in the state of mind. The start of the second half was the moment in the match where we managed to play the most, to speed up the game. Apart from that highlight, the rest of the time, there are quite a few things to criticize about our game. There were quite a few approximations. But we have to salute the players' solidarity, our defense was of a high level."