His outlook has changed completely since he hung up his boots with the Ciel et Blancs and became their sporting director three seasons ago, alongside manager Laurent Travers.
Before the trip this Friday evening (8:45 p.m.) to Pau, Yannick Nyanga looks back on the situation of Racing, its difficulties lately, the extension of Teddy Thomas, the signing of Gaël Fickou, and his role, at 37, within 'a team that has not yet given its full potential.
The large success (45-19) last week against Clermont he chased the doubts?
Yannick NYANGA.
This performance should be moderated.
There were good things but we also took fifteen penalties, which is not possible at this level.
We have also focused our preparation this week exclusively on the discipline.
Qualification nevertheless seems to extend its arms to Racing and the trip to Pau is within its reach ...
Be careful, if we take fifteen penalties in Pau, we will not win.
Nothing is taken for granted in this championship.
I hope that we learn from our mistakes and that we are all convinced of the same thing.
How do you explain the bad patch crossed by your team (elimination against Bordeaux in the quarter-final of the European Cup and four consecutive defeats in the Top 14 before the reaction against Clermont)?
This championship is hard, long, even more with the pandemic and the games postponed.
The European Cup pumped us a lot of energy.
We reacted well after the defeat in the final against Exeter
(Editor's note: 31-27 on October 17)
.
With the exception of Toulouse and La Rochelle, all the teams have experienced declines.
The elimination against Bordeaux-Bègles (24-21) was tough but it is the law of sport.
Winning is not due.
We did not know how to give ourselves the chance to do so, we can only blame ourselves.
What are the reasons ?
We will look for the reasons at the end of the season.
There, the important thing is to find solutions.
We must have consistency between the club we want to be and the reality of the matches.
Racing, via its president, its great players, its structures, is de facto set up as a favorite in the imagination of people and the media.
But the truth on the ground does not care about the names marked on the scoresheet.
As leaders, Jacky Lorenzetti, Laurent Travers or myself have to put together the best possible team.
It is with this in mind that we have extended Teddy Thomas and signed Gaël Fickou.
We have to find a balance between talent, youth, and hard workers.
Your workforce seems a priori cut out for the title ...
It helps to have such players, that's for sure, but for them to all express themselves at their best in a collective spirit, it's complex.
There is a lot of waiting around us, a lot of pressure.
When you see a three-quarter line made up of Russell, Fickou, Vakatawa, Thomas, Imhoff, Beale and so on, obviously, you expect big things.
The ingredients for success are there, but we must find a way to make these individualities play out for each other.
This is why sometimes teams that are less strong on paper but collectively can topple mountains.
Has your outlook changed since you left the pitch to become sports director three years ago?
It's completely different.
When we are a player, we are necessarily selfish, in our bubble, focused only on our performance.
It's binary.
We are good, we win, we are happy.
We are not good, we lose, we are not happy.
When we are on the other side of the barrier, we are concerned about the player within the collective.
He must never be bigger than the team.
It's exciting but I never imagined it was so complex.
A decision concerning one player can destabilize the whole group.
This is the butterfly effect.
Each choice involves a cascade of consequences.
I am constantly questioning.
There are very few great joys and they are fleeting, quickly chased away by what follows: preparation and reflection around the next game.
The teams
Pau:
Malié - Mogg, Manu, Vatubua, Tuimaba - (o) Jantjies, (m) Daubagna - Habel-Kuffner, Whitelock, Tagitagivalu - Philip, Pesenti - Corato, Rey (cap.), Fisi'ihoi.
Entr.
: Piqueronies.
Racing 92:
Beale - Thomas, Vakatawa, Fickou, Taofifenua - (o) Russell, (m) Iribaren (cap.) - Chouzenoux, Tanga, Diallo - Palu, Le Roux - Gomes Sa, Le Guen, Ben Arous.
Entr.
: Cross.