Aurillac – MHR: “Find the path to victory”, “we still have work to do”… post-match reactions

Léo Coly et le MHR battus pour leur premier match de préparation à Aurillac. MAXPPP – Jérémie FULLERINGER

For its first preparation match, the MHR lost to Aurillac (31-24), this Friday, August 23, at the Jean-Alric stadium. A first outing for the new staff and some lessons learned, as Alexandre Bécognée and Joan Caudullo pointed out.

Alexandre Bécognée (MHR third row):“It already feels good. We've been in preparation for a little over a month now. We've prepared as much as we can, but we know very well that there's nothing like the truth on the pitch. We saw that we had some approximations. But we came up against an Aurillac team that was playing its third match and us, our first. I'm proud of the team in terms of investment, in terms of state of mind. Because despite the small errors, we still knew how to pull together and get some great tries. We can't wait and we're determined to make up for last season. To not do the same thing again. And to show that this wasn't our place. And that it was just a mistake. And that it won't happen again. Now we have to win. Because that's the little black spot today. Even if it's a match where we lined up three teams in one. But we still lost. We have to find the path to victory."

"We are young coaches"

Joan Caudullo (MHR head coach): “It's a first match for us. We're playing against a team that starts the championship next week. What I liked about us is that we were able to react to the pressure we were under. Afterwards, of course, we have a squad review, we have players who are absent, we still have work to do. But what I would like, as we prepare, is for us to specify everything we need to do. We lack precision on many things which means that we lose track of our match and are unable to win it in the end.

We decided to play all the players who had done the preparation. It is important to reward certain guys who are well prepared, who have worked well. Afterwards, we will continue to clarify things in Corsica and the Harlequins, hoping to be ready for the match against Lyon.

(On his first match as coach) Today, with the staff, we worked together for the first time on a match. There was also some imprecision with us. We also need to put things in context, which is normal. We are young coaches, but we are also using these matches to be ready for the Lyon match, too.”