The starting season
“We approach this with as much desire as ever.
We first applied ourselves to cutting well after the last season which was very long.
We went to the final, the pre-season was shorter.
Castres Olympique went back to work, in his corner, with a lot of humility.
To discover
Schedule and Top 14 results
Ranking Top 14
First of the regular phase last year
“It was historic!
We were very proud of it.
Afterwards, it's more anecdotal than that... It crowned all the work in continuity that had been done during the season.
We were the first surprised to find ourselves in this position.
We were already happy to qualify, to be in the top six and to join in the fun.
It was a great season, it was rewarding for the young group that we were.
We had quite a few young players who had never tasted the final stages.
They were able to see that, despite our resources, Castres Olympique is capable of causing problems for other teams.
Top 14 Jerseys
Go to slideshow (14)
The room for improvement of the Castres group
“I hope that the last season will have made us grow and that they will realize that we are capable of it.
It also showed us the work we still have to do to climb the last steps that could lead us to something beautiful.
There is always significant room for improvement.
It's positive to know what we can improve to be even more efficient.
This pushes us to go back to the fight with the desire to progress as a team.
Eternal outsiders but regularly present
"We stay focused on ourselves, that's the most important thing.
We don't make too much noise, we work very well with targeted recruitment each time, vengeful guys, with above all a particular state of mind.
Before the qualities of player, we look at the human qualities, of man when we recruit.
Simple, approachable guys.
We are in a small town, Castres is a village, we have to be close to people, to our public.
That's the only way it works.
It is an osmosis between the club, the city and the department (
of the Tarn
).
There are thirteen other clubs dreaming of the top of the table.
The important thing was to put the blue on, it matches our colors!
Mathieu Babillot
The unbeaten streak at the Pierre-Fabre stadium (since November 2020)
“We operate differently compared to a big club, we don't have the same means, the same infrastructure.
We are obliged to do things differently and to question ourselves.
With us, our primary strength is work.
If you want to compete with the big names in the championship, you have to work, redouble your efforts and always play at 100%, or even more.
Especially at home where we pride ourselves on making people happy with this unbeaten streak.
It is not objective but more a challenge between us.
This label of “painful” players
“We could take it in a reductive way but not at all.
We are happy to be painful!
We are happy not to be over-mediatised, we are happy to be in our small landlocked village and always cause problems for others.
It suits us well.
We also gargle a bit of that.
We use it as motivation.”
How to avoid last season's backlash
“In Castres, I experienced very highs but also more difficult periods.
In 2015, the year after the lost final (against Toulon), we held on to the end of the season.
We must use these difficult periods to redouble our efforts and avoid these pitfalls, where we could tip over.
This is why I insist on the fact that we resume in all humility, we are not mistaken.
We are very happy with last season, but that's in the past, it's behind.
We don't have time to live in the past, history is the future.
There are thirteen other clubs dreaming of the top of the table.
The important thing was to put the blue on, it matches our colors!
(
smile
).”