What is your assessment of the past season?
You have to be clear and frank, it's a disappointment ... We thought we were doing a lot better. First in the European Cup, where we were finalists against Exeter last fall. There was room, we didn't. In the process, we stopped in the quarter-finals in the Champions Cup this season (defeat at Bordeaux-Bègles). Then we lose in the semifinals of the championship. There's nothing to say, well done to La Rochelle, they played a great game, we weren't invited. We did not play, we did not know how to mobilize for the event. It is very clearly a disappointment. Then we can be satisfied by telling ourselves that since we are in Top 14, we are the only club not to have fallen below 6th place. Toulouse, Toulon, Clermont have known seasons without.We made three vice-European champions, but we lost. We are also French champions in 2016. Overall, over 15 years, it's satisfactory. Now we have to re-mobilize for next season. We adjusted our recruitment by signing Baptiste Pesenti (Pau, for 4 seasons) and a new forwards coach, Didier Casadéi (ex-Brive, for 3 seasons).
Do you feel like your team is hitting a glass ceiling during cleaver matches?
Do we become like Clermont? (Laughs) It's true that we had a bit of trouble getting things done despite a good squad, good structures, a decent budget. We must not forget that we must not talk about the budget but about the salary cap (capping of the payroll). This is what makes the difference in sport. Today we have about ten which is between 10 and 11 million euros at the level of the salary cap, depending on the number of players selected for the France team. We add social charges, that's 16 million. It also takes 5 million for the staff. There are about ten clubs around 20-21 million euros for the athlete, the rest concerns ticketing, accounting, communication. We fight on equal terms with a dozen other clubs. It is now necessary that thewe stand out because of our skills. The arrivals of Pesenti and Casadéi will allow us to put a pack of aggressiveness back in our pack. It's kind of the idea.
Racing 92 is the club that aligns the most JIFF (players from training courses). Many young players make up your pack but, on the other side of the coin, they lack experience at the top level ...
Perhaps the youth have been abused. Not only do we have the most JIFFs, almost 20 on average per game, but we also made a lot of young people from the training center play as a pro team. Against La Rochelle, there were 12 players from our training center. La Rochelle had 8 foreign players - I am not criticizing - who brought this mastery that we lacked. We will look, we will perhaps be more selective, more demanding. But youth will remain our DNA.
In attack, except against the Harlequins who finished champions of England, we did not crush all our matches
Jacky Lorenzetti
You have one of the most beautiful three-quarter lines in Europe. Are you happy with the performance of your "Galactics"?
Yes, when they can be served under good conditions.
As the English motto says “no scrum, no win” (no scrum, no victory).
When this is the case, behind it plays well.
We know we have enormous potential.
Now we have to work on the scrum.
In touchdown, we weren't as sovereign as usual.
And in attack, except against the Harlequins (7-49 in December) who finished champions of England, we did not crush all our matches.
You offered the trip and places to your supporters for the semi-final in Lille. What prompted you to make this gesture?
Quite simply to thank them for their generosity. There is not a single one who has requested a refund of their subscription for the 2020-2021 season. These are subscriptions that range from 180 to 800 euros. Our gift is much lower. It seemed normal to me to thank them. Contrary to what one commentator may have said, we did not buy our supporters, they are big enough to come. Otherwise, we have lost partners but we have found others: Randstad, world leader in human resources, Boulanger, leader in household appliances, Groupe Vital, specialist in outsourcing since 1998 for the swimsuit, the application UP2IT. Life resumes...
The new Racing 92 jersey. DR
Why did you choose to change equipment supplier?
Our contract with Le Coq Sportif came to an end and we were approached by Nike, which is the world's leading equipment supplier, very sophisticated in sales and marketing. We signed a 5 year contract. The idea was to have an equipment supplier capable of supporting us in our desire for development. Since 1892, the Racing jersey had not changed, which made 139 years of tradition and affection. We wanted, like what we did with the training center at Plessis-Robinson and the Arena, to show that the club was evolving and continuing to grow. Nike has concocted an evolution of the jersey that expresses this evolution with unstructured bands. It represents both tradition and modernity. The path between the traditional Arc de Triomphe and theModern Defense Arch. Nike is back in rugby, they will also be partners of Toulon and Toulouse.
We are aware that there is a change but it looks like a Racing jersey.
The colors remain the same.
We wanted to be a little more modern
Jacky Lorenzetti
Are you not afraid that your traditional supporters will be jostled a bit?
Maybe ... We are aware that there is a change but it looks like a Racing jersey.
The colors remain the same.
We wanted to be a little more modern.
We do not renounce the past, but we want to be more contemporary.
The traditionalists will cry their shirts but, for all the other teams of the club, from the youth teams to the Under-21s, there will be no changes.
Besides, what prompted you to create a women's team at Racing 92?
We have partnered with the Nanterre club. The women will evolve with the new club jersey, our partners, when we told them about it, were thrilled by the idea. The players are at the amateur level, they are not paid. We are starting in Federal 2, with the ambition to fight within 5 years with the best, especially the Stade Français. There will be two presidents: Sandra Dumont, who is the current president of the Nanterre club, and Patrick Serrière (current general manager of the club). With the desire to catch up in terms of equality between men and women.
