“The coin fell on our side, it's rare”: reactions after MHR-Racing 92

Players and coaches from Racing 92 and MHR appeared at a press conference this Saturday, December 21, at the end of the match between the two teams (Montpellier won 21-17).

Didier Bès, MHR scrum coach: “Let's say that this victory feels good. Given Racing's team composition, it was a targeted match. We knew the state of mind they were coming to the GGL with. We knew that it would be a match that would be decided by nothing.

We are in the middle of the standings. We have left enough points at home. Away from home, I still have the Castres match hanging over my head. It was important to win because once again, we want to move as far away as possible from these last places. I don't talk about it often but we don't want to relive what we experienced last year.”

Léo Coly, MHR scrum-half: “Tonight, it's over. We'll remember that. It was a moment key to the season. Our indiscipline was blatant, we had a close call. I don't think it was nervousness, but rather an overabundance of commitments, with too many easy fouls like offsides. The coin fell in our favor, it wasn't the case some time ago. We take it.

There is not everything to throw away, we have shown a new face for several months, with a big conquest, a nascent offensive animation. We are on the right track. There is perhaps sometimes this lack of brain, of rigor, small mistakes that put them back in the game.”

Lenni Nouchi, third row of the MHR : “We are not used to the coin falling on the right side. We are shaking, it is our fault. We control the game but from the 55th, we suffer, we no longer keep the ball. If we want to have high objectives, we must succeed in erasing the mistakes.

We're stringing together victories and good performances. We can perhaps start looking at the results from above, while knowing that we're still on the limit. And we won't overdo it during the holidays, with a big trip to Clermont ahead of us.”

Racing 92

Nolan Le Garrec, Racing 92 scrum-half: “There's frustration. We played intermittently. We were undisciplined, we played 20 minutes with 13 men. We tried to stay in the game until the end. We had the chance to win. But there was too much indiscipline. To do an 80m play and it ends with that, with a gesture… I’ve been playing rugby for a long time and this kind of gesture… He was unconscious, he convulsed. I’ve rarely seen a KO like that. I’ll let people talk about it.”

Dimitri Szarzewski, Racing 92 forwards coach : “It would be too easy to blame our defeat on Tual Trainini. In the scrum, we weren’t aggressive enough. There were a few good things. At the end, we had the opportunity to score. I had the feeling that we were there. In the commitment, we were there. Despite the twists and turns during this match, we were able to come back and show character.”

Jordan Joseph, Racing 92 third row : “We lack self-confidence. We've had three defeats in the Top 14, we're a bit nervous. On the balls carried, we were present, in the fight too. We kept our heads down in the difficult moments. We're going to keep working and the work will pay off, I'm sure of it.”