Sitting in front of the microphones, in a press conference, Gonzalo Quesada marks a time. Then, without losing his calm, the manager of Stade Français admits his embarrassment. "We have to review the match, it's difficult to analyze hot," he says before admitting not to remember too much the last moments of an incredible meeting that saw his team lead 28-0 at half-time, then 31-28 with twenty seconds left to finally concede the draw (31-31) Sunday night at Jean-Bouin against Lyon all surprised by this turnaround. "I was like crazy," he says.
These two points lost in the standings are not anecdotal. They deprive the Parisians, already qualified for the final phase before entering the field, of the certainty of playing their play-off at home (June 3 or 4). If they are still in the nails (3rd equal points with Racing, 4th), a defeat in La Rochelle on the last day on May 28 would expose them to a possible return of Bordeaux-Bègles or Lyon, who sail respectively at 3 and 4 lengths.
🏁 DRAW
A draw with each its period and a taste of the final phase. Regrets also after this 1st act but it's not over. More than ever, go Paris ⚡️⚡️⚡️ #SFPLOU | 🌸 31 - 31 🐺 | @AiwaysFrance pic.twitter.com/14nusXnokp
— Stade Français Paris (@SFParisRugby) May 14, 2023
"We're going to have to look at other people's results, which I didn't want"
"We're going to have to look at other people's results, which I didn't want," Quesada added. We will have to stay strong and confident. A question then arises. Should we try everything in the Maritimes to try to get a dam at home, at the risk of leaving feathers or skip and keep all our energy, even if it means traveling? "Yes, we can wonder, says the manager of Stade Français. We have to see the state of the group, if we can recover from the wounded. The match in La Rochelle will take place at 21 pm, which means that we will return to the night, which is not the best for recovery. If we play the play-off at home, it will be the following Sunday but if we move, it will be Saturday, so it also plays. You have to study that and make no mistake. What is certain is that we will field a competitive team. »
This is how the Parisian club complicated the task as the red carpet seemed rolled out in front of him. Sweeping in the first half of Lyon undermined by internal tensions - the players having asked in the week the head of their manager Xavier Garbajosa, according to Le Progrès -, Arthur Coville and his teammates sank on the return of the locker room in front of the opposing reaction. "During the first half, the players were 150%, they did everything perfectly and respected to the letter everything we said during the week," explains Gonzalo Quesada. Afterwards, we took points too easily, there was a bit of indiscipline. Is this enough to collapse and suddenly darken a horizon that looked all rosy?