MHR: state of mind, attitudes, content… The observation is harsh after the defeat in Bayonne

Christopher Tolofua et les Montpelliérains sont passés à côté à Bayonne. MAXPPP – Emilie Drouinaud

The MHR was very disappointing in its overall performance against Bayonne (27-26) this Saturday, September 28.

The most optimistic will remember the defensive bonus point, these ten minutes better in the second half. It is not certain that the players and the staff will look at their trip to Bayonne in this way, lost in the last moments (27-26) against a Basque team far from a convincing level. It was enough to read the faces of Montpellier at the whistle to understand.

“It sucks”, “we lost three points, “we're going to drag this match around like a ball and chain”. The words of manager Joan Caudullo did not hide his cold anger. Losing against a stronger team is one thing. Losing in this configuration, by completely failing in the first half in terms of mentality, when the Héraultais wanted to build on that and forget the performance against Lyon (22-26) in more or less similar conditions, is almost a professional fault. A harsh observation. Too harsh, after only four days ? “We are all very disappointed. Playing 40 minutes is not enough. “It's completely our fault” , regretted captain Lenni Nouchi, one of the only ones at his level despite a few errors.

Content to work on

Now that the main cause of the defeat is explained, namely the attitudes, what about the general content ? The attack ? It's not there yet, but we knew it. The defense ? Pierced too easily on the passes to the cord of Camille Lopez in front of the Montpellier line. The scrum ? It suffered for thirty minutes, before rectifying the situation with the unprecedented change of the first line in the 28th minute ( Erdocio-Karkadze-Japaridze by Forletta-Tolofua-Hounkpatin). The touchline ? Four throws lost in total, as against Toulouse. Positive point: the defense on the balls carried and the counters on opposing throws.

A final copy too weak, hardly reassuring before the trip to the Stade Français this Saturday . A reaction, at least in the state of mind, is urgent (again). Already.