Jean-Michel Vidal et ses troupes ont encore un match à domicile avant d'en finir à Angoulème. ASBH – Frédéric Bedos

The president of the ASBH takes stock before the last home match of the championship, this Friday, May 10, at 7 p.m. at the Raoul-Barrière stadium.

Facing Nevers, your team will play its last home match before the final phase. What assessment do you draw from these matches played in front of the Biterrois public?

There was a draw against Vannes and only one defeat against Provence Rugby. And I repeat, in this match, we were refereed in an unenviable way. Everyone recognized it, even the boss of the referees…hellip; Frankly, regarding all the home meetings, there is really nothing to complain about.

The stadium is now full. This was not always the case…

At one point, I rushed into the stretchers because I didn't understand why people weren't coming to the stadium in numbers. But in Béziers, we have a connoisseur public. He needed to see a team performing well and playing a pleasant game. This was also the case when I complained! But there is nothing more to say, people are there and many are even moving around. The players are also delighted.

To receive the play-off, isn't your team forced to win during the last two days?

We are where we wanted to be and we have our destiny in our hands. If we do what we have to do, we will leave our pursuers behind. The aim of the game is to play a play-off at home. The players have pulled out their guts on all grounds, it's not about giving up now.

Is there not the regret of not having retained 2nd place, synonymous with a direct semi-final?

This is a bit of a disappointment. But we didn't win in Rouen where it was possible, we had a non-match in Dax and it was complicated in Aurillac and Grenoble… But it is true that, up front, Vannes and Provence did not give up. Knowing that they had a slightly clearer calendar than ours.

How do you explain this drop in speed?

I think at some point the players got tired. We have energy-intensive rugby and it ends up wearing us out. We rotated, but when our leaders are not there, it's not quite the same. There was also some damage. This may explain this little hunger we had.

Some players say that going to play a semi-final in Aix-en-Provence would not scare them. What do you think??

I agree. Indeed if there is a choice to make it would be to play Provence. There is a little sporting dispute with them because they have been beating us for some time so that they shouldn't!

Think about a possible rise to the Top 14 ?

It is still too early to talk about this since we do not yet know what our barrier will be. But obviously if that happened, we wouldn't refuse the climb.

Do you fear this Nevers team?

Nevers is a very big team. It’s complicated all the time whether it’s at home or at home. Knowing that they have something to come and get. I don’t know in what state of mind they will come. Whatever happens, for us, from this match onwards, we are in the qualifying phase.

Friday May 10, at 7 p.m., at the Raoul-Barrière stadium

BEZIERS : Lorre- Storti, Espeut, Votu, Courtaud- (o) Mailé – (m) Marques- Ancely (cap ), Koen, Pauta- Madigan, Nkinsi- Zabala, Gonzales, Fernandes. Substitutes: Arnoldi, Amrouni, Gayraud, Bitz, Short, Nana Williams, Van Bost, Tchelidze.

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