Show a better face. This is the objective of Biarritz Olympique who travel to Lyon this Saturday, February 26 afternoon for the 19th day of the Top 14. A week after the slap received in Paris and the scathing 65-19, the Reds and white bottom of the championship are again outside, at the LOU, third. Eight days before the end of the season, the countdown has begun. And even if the priority remains home matches, especially the reception of Toulon, a direct competitor, next weekthis trip to Lyon should make it possible to regain character, to start again to show better intentions, as explained by Vincent Martin, the three-quarter center who stacks up associated with François Vergnaud in the center.
France Bleu Pays Basque: How did you get back to work after the terrible defeat against Stade Français?
Vincent Martin: It was a tough ordeal physically and mentally. Taking 60 points is never very pleasant, unfortunately, you shouldn’t stop at that. The calendar continues and we have deadlines that are coming very quickly. We have to perform in Lyon and we know it’s going to be very tough because in the first leg, we saw what they were capable of. We have suffered a lot during the combat phases and we expect it to be the same there, if not more, because it’s a team that plays in the top six or even higher. We don’t have the same objectives at all, but it’s going to be a very, very important challenge for us.
We do not have the most powerful and densest team in the championship. We rely on our qualities. We see in the first leg, we were enormously penalized and taken on the conquest phases so we want to avoid repeating these errors. We go try to put our rhythm as we were able to put against La Rochelle or it worked pretty well. It will take a good start. This is what we also lacked in Paris last week. Getting into the match well, not igniting and staying clean before finishing properly. With François (Vergnaud), we are lucky to be able to continue. I get on very well with him, we are quite complementary and I hope things will go differently. I hope then that the cogs will be a little more oiled.
Is there a question of honor, of pride, compared to what happened last weekend?
Of course, we want to show another face, it’s a bit of a shame for us. We saw it very badly, but we can’t stop at that. We need to bounce back quickly. We want to show something else because we have managed to do so at times. This year, we had matches where we went through a bit, like in Brive or Lyon at home, or even last weekend. And it can happen. But it shouldn’t become a habit. We know we are capable of better. We all trust and we all know we can do it. There is more than to put all the ingredients and there are eight games left before the end.
It’s going to be a very complicated sprint, but we’re all motivated. We all want to stay in the Top 14. In the standings, we’re only five points behind Perpignan, that’s what gives us hope and we’re hanging on to that a lot. We tell ourselves that we are not let down, but after a while, we must not no longer wait for the results of others. We too must be actors in our own destiny. And that goes through already performing at home and trying to get something outside, even if it’s going to be difficult.
You tell us focus on Lyon and at the same time, but isn’t the priority the home matches (there are four left – Toulon, Pau, Clermont, Castres) by the end of the season?
Now we don’t have many cards, eight matches. Yes, Toulon, it’s going to be a decisive match but we don’t want to, we can’t not let go either of an opportunity like this weekend. If you manage to win a point or make a result there, you can’t neglect it either. So of course if you take 60 points, it will be difficult again, but every card we have to play, we have to play them thoroughly. We cannot afford to say: “This one, we leave it aside, we’ll see.” Not in our situation. Even if Toulon is super important. We have a very, very big game ahead of us in Lyon.