ASBH: “A lot of people think that Brive will win, but we don’t want that”, Pierre Caillet and Béziers ready before the jump-off

Le meilleur est à venir pour les Biterrois. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Pierre Caillet, manager de l’ASBH a fait le point avant le barrage contre Brive, vendredi à 21h.

Une semaine particulière avant ce barrage vendredi soir ?

A big meeting for this play-off at home, we've been waiting for it for a while, we know that there will be a lot of people in the stands and that there will be a big match to be had .

The preparation was done normally, we kept certain routines, we tried to lighten the work because in these matches, it's fresh and calm that matter.

How do you feel about the match ?

All matches are different, when we look at the first leg in Brive, we were shaken, in terms of intensity. In the return match, we had a lot more confidence, played our game and defended well. We know the qualities of Brive, everyone knows them since I saw an article where there were "5 reasons why the Brives were going to come and win here".

A lot of people think that Brive will win, but we don't want that, so we know it will be a big match: we are ready. We will try to go as far as possible.

🔝Les 23 🔴🔵 pour le duel face aux brivistes du CA Brive Rugby demain soir 🏉 ⚔

🗣 Coup d'envoi à 21H00 ! #AquiEsBesiers #ASBH pic.twitter.com/9oQjQbqpre

— ASBH Officiel (@ASBHOfficiel) May 23, 2024

On what aspects will the match be decided??

It's going to come down to conquest, we know they have a big conquest. They are consistent on sideline and scrum. It will come down to defense and discipline. You have to stay calm, it's going to be a rather close and tense match, I think that the team that is the most calm will win this match.

What do you think of the excitement surrounding the match??

It's not an additional pressure, we're moving forward peacefully in this match, why add pressure? We went for this match, we deserve it and now we wants to live it. Everything around, the general context, we want to experience it, what awaits us is great.

Playing at home, a big advantage?

Of course it's an advantage, Brive has 5 reasons to win against us, we only have two, that's what put… stadium that will be filled and this group that deserves it.

How to juggle pressure and relaxation before this kind of match?

It's a fair balance to have, if you put too much pressure, you explode, if you play down too much, you do anything too. What is important is to go from one side to the other each time. The objective was to have a qualification. When she arrives home, it’s already beyond what we wanted to do. We want to remain ambitious. We are very happy with this match but of course we want more. We have nothing left to lose, we have to play like a team with no future.

📣 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬

Voici le 𝐗𝐕 𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐞́𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 pour ce barrage face Béziers 🔥 #ASBHCAB#WEARECAB ⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/IJppCfZKL5

— CA Brive Rugby (@CABCLRUGBY) May 23, 2024

It's just a bonus?

It’s also a responsibility. There are bonuses, pleasure but also showing that we are capable of doing better.

After the first sluggish days, what made the mayonnaise set??

The best time is these matches at the start of the season. Some may have described them as "windy" but from the inside it’s where we worked the most and where the team was built. And then the Portuguese arrived and rode that, the best moment of the season for me was the first five matches. Because we had a tough time with a lot of injuries… It was in the hardest moments of the season that we created ourselves. We have been creating ourselves through difficulty for many years.

What was the opening match of the season ?

The Vannes match (20-20), at the start of the season, we are fifteen points behind, we are giving you a monstrous last fifteen minutes, there is only one thing you can do in Béziers I haven’t seen many clubs do that. And there we felt that we had character and that we had “big” ones. Against Grenoble, all the work we did allowed the play to turn the right way and put 40 on these guys and then you let go completely…