Stade Rochelais “does not want to relive a frustration” against Toulouse

Jono Gibbes (manager of La Rochelle): “After the Champions Cup final, the group really understood, after the analysis, what the chances represent, the high level matches. You understand that you missed something special in your career. (…) It was a big disappointment at Twickenham but it gave the group experience. The message has been well received. You have to be strong on the basics, conquest, seize opportunities when they arise, know how to manage pressure for 80 minutes. (…) I’m like “Doum” (Doumayrou), the job is first of all this final. The whole group is focused on this. There was real energy this week. Everyone thinks about his performance on Friday. Afterwards, it will be time to think, to share a Coke with the guys. With hindsight, we can analyze our progress. But first, you have to focus on the coming 80 minutes. On a personal level, what matters is that the guys who put in a lot of effort get rewarded.»

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Romain Sazy (second row and captain of La Rochelle): “The Champions Cup final was over a month ago. We will look to the future and to tomorrow (Friday) evening. We have often remade the match of this Champions Cup final in our heads. So it’s okay, we’ll move on. (…) The mix of different players is perfect for me this season. We have guys who have known Pro D2, guys from the club, from training, young people … And we needed to gain experience with big guys, like Will (Skelton), or with the contribution of “Doum” (Geoffrey Doumayrou). It is important. Having only local guys is pretty complicated. We manage to get the best of ourselves by creating a certain dynamic with this team. This year it has been. We felt it from the start of the season. We’re ready. (…) This is the first time that we have set foot at the Stade de France. On the other hand, we absolutely want to look good. Our objective, since the beginning of the year, is clear. We had set a date and we are reaching that date. But we do not want to miss it and relive a frustration. The whole club wants to discover this world. The people of Toulouse have known this for several years, several decades. We don’t know it but I assure you that we really want to discover it.»

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Geoffrey Doumayrou (center playing his last match with La Rochelle before joining Montpellier): “The team had a good match last weekend (he was forfeited against Racing 92 in the semi-final). It was a great victory against Racing. We haven’t changed anything. I returned to training this week. I am focused on myself and my performance. I didn’t do anything in particular. Everyone knows what to do and there is no need for people explaining things to others. (…) Winning this title would be really strong. Winning the title with two different clubs (he was crowned in 2015 with Stade Français Paris), for me that would be nice. I would have known three clubs (with Montpellier, its training club), it’s good to win titles where we go. We leave an imprint. It also means that we are still in the game, if we are on the scoresheet. But it’s not won, I hope we will release a good performance tomorrow (Friday) evening. (…) On the small details, the commitment and the conquest, we were feverish in the Champions Cup final. We learned from this match. We’ll see if we’ve learned the lesson. We had put a lot of heart. You have to do that and improve on things that were not in the final. As for my last match with La Rochelle, I don’t think about it. We have our head in the final, not in his last game. After that, it’s like that, it’s the ups and downs of sport. It can happen that we change clubs. It doesn’t impact me more than that.»

Interview at a press conference at the Stade de France