“Playing Brive, I know it’s a difficult match”

It was November 6 at the Stadium. Didier Casadeï appeared for the first time in front of the press at the Stadium with a sky and white outfit. His team had just lost to CAB 12-10. “We knew what to put in as intensity. It was not satisfactory. When you lose the shocks, you lose the matches” reacted hot “Casa”. Before the meeting this Saturday in his new home, the Paris La Défense Arena”, he delivered on this duel which will have, for the two teams, a particular flavor.

Didier Casadeï, you must already be happy after Racing’s victory over Toulouse last weekend (20-15)?

Yes, we are very happy with the result and the content. We were conquerors and we managed to stay organized and disciplined. We could have won more clearly by being opportunistic, but it’s a great victory.

This match against Brive would allow you to continue?

Continue, yes, we will see. The matches follow each other and are not alike. Last week, five internationals weren’t there. This weekend, we will have to do without the Scottish and Georgian internationals, so like many teams, we find ourselves in the process of adaptation. But, in the standings, we are not where we should be, so we have to win.

The adversary, Brive, you know him well, you had trained them. Do you watch their performance?

Of course, I watch Brive matches more closely than the other teams, especially with my former players who have now become coaches. I was also their first supporter during their match against Biarritz last week. So, yes, I know the players, the team and the context.

Are these special matches to play?

Sure. When you have played for a long time as a player and then as a coach, it is necessarily a special match. Now I’m starting to have some experience. Today, I train at Racing and I hope that we will be able to confirm our progress and win this match. Last year, the meeting was not significant in the sense that Brive had held up the weekend before. When you hold on, you don’t play the match of your life afterwards. Today, Brive is a very good Top 14 team. I know it’s a difficult match, especially since the Top 14 is homogeneous. Anyone can beat anyone. So we will have to do everything to win

In the first leg, they were more generous than us and they had won. Rugby belongs to the one who wants it the most, who is the most aggressive, who bites the most in contact, who sticks the most to the ball, who is opportunistic. If we want to take our revenge, we will have to be much better than in the first leg.

“Winning the European Cup 25 years later would be a small miracle, and that would be cool”

Nostalgia sequence, 25 years ago, you won the European Cup with Brive, alongside the other Racing coach, Laurent Travers. Did you talk about it last week?

Of course, it brought back memories. These are moments I wish for any player. It’s kind of the match of our lives too. We also made our coaching career thanks to that moment. Me, personally, I am also indebted to this club (Brive) since it put me on the job as a coach. So, these are moments that we remember with happiness, even if this year, we couldn’t celebrate it.

Winning the European Cup as a coach and player, would that be an important moment for you?

Well, of course. When you attack a competition as prestigious as the European Cup, it is already an honor to play it. Then when you are in a club which aims to play it and try to win it, it is clear that it would be, perhaps not an outcome for me, but not far. Now the level is very high, everyone wants to win it and it won’t be easy. But winning this cup 25 years later would be fabulous, a historic moment, and a small miracle. Yeah, that would be cool.

Saturday, there will be no more gauge for this match. Will there be many friends in the stands?

I don’t know yet, but there will be a lot in the stands, yes. It will be my pleasure to see them. Already, when I went down to Brive for the first leg, I was very well received by the supporters where, I believe, I kept a good image. It makes me happy to see them again and I am delighted with their good results. I owe a lot to Brive. I have my family who have always been traders in Brive, so we can say Brive one day, always Brive.