2024-01-12 23:18:23
It doesn’t work every time. At the beginning of December, for its entry into the major European competition, Bayonne had managed to bring back a draw from its trip to Munster (17-17), with an improbable and incredible team composition, coming from the laboratory of Grégory Patat and his deputies. On Friday, the experiment, still completely new, did not produce the same result. It even turned into a nightmare. Rowing took a first-class beating, carried away, humiliated by Northampton (61-14) with 9 tries conceded, saving the honor with two converted tries from Tom Spring (65th) and Aurélien Callandret (77th), nicely served by Kléo Labarbe, the young scrum half, 19 years old, who came into play for the first time, and rare Basque satisfaction.
Despite this setback which will perhaps leave some marks on the bodies and in the heads, the Basques still have a chance of qualifying. A victory against Exeter next Sunday on home soil could be enough to give them a place in the round of 16. But would it be reasonable to find yourself facing a big guy again, outside? “We were caught up by the reality of the level,” confided Grégory Patat at a press conference. We knew it was going to be difficult, we had to put things in place, we didn’t succeed. We couldn’t cope against a team with confidence who played forward, it was too difficult. It’s up to us to work. And frankly, we are not invited to this level. We need to grow up, but we knew that this scenario could happen, we had warned the players. »
Eight Saints players to prepare for the Tournament?
“But we didn’t leave the locker room,” regretted Denis Marchois, the captain. At the break on Friday evening, on the pitch at Franklin’s Garden, it was already 42-0, with six tries, all converted by Fin Smith, a 21-year-old who leads the game, with serenity and accuracy, for the best English team of this season, first of the National Championship, and now on a series of eight consecutive victories.
It is so impressive that Steve Borthwick, the England coach, would consider retaining eight Saints players to prepare for the VI Nations tournament: George Furbank (27 years old), Fraser Dingwall (24 years old), Tommy Freeman (22 years old), Fin Smith (21 years old), Alex Mitchell (27 years old), Alex Coles (24 years old), Curtis Langdon (26 years old) and Tom Pearson (24 years old), author of a hat-trick. And he will not be able to retain Courtney Lawes, the third row with 105 caps who has decided to put an end to his international career, and dreams of continuing his career elsewhere, in France perhaps, in Pro D2 (Brive, Aix), or in Montpellier, he who has only known one professional club.
“The high level has a horror of approximation”
Grégory Patat, manager of Bayonne
And Lewis Ludlam, the usual captain of the Saints who played in the World Cup, is currently injured… All this to say that between Northampton and Bayonne, there is a world, an abysmal difference in level. We often had the unpleasant feeling that the two teams did not practice the same discipline at all. But these differences cannot explain everything, in particular this too high percentage of missed tackles during the first 20 minutes, this large number of missed passes, these misunderstandings in touch, these poor adjustments in defense.
“We are obviously disappointed with this start to the match,” admitted Nick Abendanon, one of the Bayonne assistants, interviewed by English television. Errors, and flaws that are not forgiving at this level. “The high level hates it,” concludes Grégory Patat.
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