“The gap is colossal in the match”: reactions after MHR – Stade Français

Alexandre Bécognée powerless against the Parisian defensive curtain. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

The staff and players of Montpellier and Stade Français presented themselves at a press conference this Saturday, March 30, in the wake of the MHR's defeat against the Parisians (10-12) at the GGL Stadium.

Montpellier

Patrice Collazo, manager of MHR : "When we play first, the best away team in the Top 14, we have to fill boxes, particularly in conquest and defense. The gap is colossal in the match. Without the ball in touch, in scrum, rucks not clean… The two points of difference are with the energy of despair. Playing without the ball against such an airtight and cold team is complicated. We can regret this refused try from Janse (Van Rensburg), where the referee decides not to reconsider a possible offside. But we don't lose on that, be careful."

Paul Willemse, MHR second line : "It’s weird. We weren’t really into it. It’s a bit of a process. Against a team like that, which wins all its matches, you have to at least be as consistent. They were. We are capable of doing so, particularly in touch and scrum. But over the past two weeks, we have lost a little of our momentum from the last three months. It’s hard.

We'll see what happens. When you're like that, in tough times, you have to find the things that work and focus on that. You can't fix everything right away but we have to find confidence, find our strengths and regain our “momentum” (momentum). The European Cup matches were somewhat at the origin of our renewed confidence last December. We can do the same thing. It’s hard but you have to stay in it, don’t give up."

TOLOFUA EN PUISSANCE 💪

Les avants du @MHR_officiel font parler leur puissance et permettent à Montpellier de prendre l'avantage 💥#MHRSFP pic.twitter.com/dNXEmQGXpi

— CANAL+ Rugby (@CanalplusRugby) March 30, 2024

Stade Français

Laurent Labit, director of rugby at Stade Français : "When you come to Montpellier, there is a context. They are under pressure after their defeat in Toulon. We also know that the 13th attack faced the 14th. We expected a start to the match based on commitment, conquest, aggressiveness and defense. It was going to dictate the tempo of the match. These are strong points for us. We were no exception to the rule. For several weeks, we have had situations to score, but we have not scored. We cross three or four times, we miss a drop and two penalties. We give the opponent the opportunity to stay in the match. It’s even more difficult outside.

The Montpellier people are usually very efficient on the touchline, we did a good job in particular with Karim (Ghezal) who is an expert in this field. After twenty days, we won six matches out of ten away. We're moving forward."

Kylan Hamdaoui, fullback of Stade Français : "It’was a complicated match, as is often the case at the ;rsquo;exterior. We knew there was going to be a fight after their defeat in Toulon. It was very windy, especially in the first half. We were offensive, we had difficulty scoring. This is a recurrence at the moment. We showed character. It’s been 18 years since we last won here. In conquest, it's very solid, there's nothing to say. We have a very competitive group with very good players. We knew how to manage our weak moments, less so our strong moments."

Lucas Peyreblanques, Stade Français hooker : "We were warned of the fight that awaited us. We saw it with the alignment of two numbers 5 in the second line. Touchdown defense has always been one of our strong points. The melee too. We are riding on the confidence of recent weeks. When you are dominant in conquest like that, it’s easier to occupy the ground. We were also disciplined throughout the match. We are not planning on the final phases, but we are in place."