Sitting in front of the microphones, in a press conference, Gonzalo Quesada marks a time. Then, without departing from his calm, the manager of the Stade Français admits his embarrassment. “We have to review the match, it’s difficult to analyze on the fly”, he blurts out before admitting that he no longer remembers too much the last moments of an incredible meeting which saw his team lead 28-0 at the half-time, then 31-28 with twenty seconds remaining to end up conceding a draw (31-31) on Sunday evening to Jean-Bouin against the Lyonnais who were quite surprised at this turnaround. “I was like crazy,” he slips.
These two points lost in the standings are not anecdotal. They deprive the Parisians, already qualified for the final phase before entering the lawn, of the certainty of playing their play-off at home (June 3 or 4). If they are still in the nails (3rd on equal points with Racing, 4th), a defeat at La Rochelle on the last day on May 28 would expose them to a possible return from Bordeaux-Bègles or Lyon, who sail 3 and 4 lengths respectively.
“We will have to look at the results of others, which I did not want”
“We’re going to have to look at other people’s results, which I didn’t want,” added Quesada. We will have to stay strong and confident. A question then arises. Should we try everything in the Maritimes in order to try to win a play-off at home, at the risk of leaving feathers there or do the impasse and keep all our energy, even if it means traveling? “Yes, we can wonder, advances the manager of the Stade Français. We must see the state of the group, if we can recover the wounded. The match in La Rochelle will take place at 9 p.m., which means that we will be back at night, which is not the best for recovery. If we play the play-off at home, it will be the following Sunday but if we travel, it will be on Saturday, so that also matters. We must study this and not be mistaken. What is certain is that we will field a competitive team. »
This is how the Parisian club complicated the task when the red carpet seemed to be rolled out in front of it. Sweeping in the first period of the Lyonnais undermined by internal tensions – the players having asked during the week for the head of their manager Xavier Garbajosa, according to Progress -, Arthur Coville and his teammates sank on returning from the locker room in front of the opposing reaction. “During the first half, the players were at 150%, they did everything to perfection and strictly respected everything we had said to each other during the week, explains Gonzalo Quesada. Afterwards, we took points too easily, there was a bit of indiscipline. Is this enough to collapse and suddenly darken a horizon that was announced to be all pink?
