He will start the match on the bench at the Aguiléra stadium. Christophe Loustalot is in the Stade Montois Rugby group which is traveling to Biarritz this Friday (9 p.m.). The Souletin scrum-half, who started at SAM Mauléon then at Aviron Bayonnais, is now part of the Mons locker room, he who left his suitcases in the Landes in the 2016 off-season, never to leave them. Before the shock of this 3rd day of Pro D2, he gives his view on this confrontation in 100% Rugby on France Bleu Pays Basque.
“We arrive mixed because we have an average match against Aurillac at home. We still take the bonus at the end of the match (40-18 win) because they play all the same ten minutes at thirteen against fifteen. In Beziers (loss 26-24)we suffered a lot, we came back in the last ten minutes so that’s still positive, but it’s mixed becausewe are very unruly, like the start of the championship and we have a lot of defensive wanderings. For an hour, we got shaken in front, we got shaken on the impacts and from there, it’s complicated. Having a large bench of substitutes helps us compared to Biterrois, but the difference was made. It’s a bit complicated, but we’ll try to straighten things out quickly.
We are eagerly awaited, it is more difficult to manage.
We didn’t have any particular ambition last year, so having been first almost all the way through the championship was just a bonus. I don’t think the club has any stated goals. If we can be in the six, that would be great. What is certain is that we do not have the same ambitions as Biarritz Olympique. They posted that they wanted to go straight up. We, it’s a bonus to play endgames. Last year, we had a great time and if we can taste that again, it will only be fun. But we don’t have too much pressure about that.
If we do better this year, we will go up. But I find it hard to believe it. We still got 106 points last season. I’m not even sure that we can redo this score one day. We are aware that we are very expected. As soon as we play a match, at home or away and especially away from Boniface, as we saw in Béziers, we were very, very expected. The teams put extra commitment when they face us. It is more difficult to manage. We are obliged to put all the ingredients to win a match, while last year, we were able to move forward masked. We had good results, but no one believed in us and we went for away wins because some teams didn’t respect us too much.”
► REPLAY of the interview with Christophe Loustalot in 100% Rugby, HERE