The reactions after Toulon vs. Saracens.
Here are the main reactions after the Champions Cup game against Saracens, which the English team won 31-23.
Mourad Boudjellal, RCT chairman: “There is something to learn from this game: when it’s possible to score penalties, let’s try to score them. We now have to score twenty points to qualify and we’ll go and grab them. The early part of the game was very tough but, then, we bounced back and showed that we’ll be among the contenders. In January, we play against the same team and we’ll see whether we have improved.”
Diego Dominguez, RCT manager: “We were all over the place in the first half and we were too passive. In the second half, we reversed the tendency and we could even have won the game, but we paid for our poor first half. Details decide the outcome of top-level games of this kind. There are still five games remaining and we’ll have to play them one after the other, without making any calculations. This is not going to be easy but, given our second half, hope remains.”
Jacques Delmas, RCT forwards coach: “We knew it was possible to snatch victory. It was close and the players can’t be blamed for their team spirit, particularly in the second half. But, at this level, we can’t make such blunders and we have to accept defeat.”
Guilhem Guirado, RCT hooker: “Disappointment is huge and the defeat is hard to take. And, to crown it all, we don’t even earn a single point. The game unfolded in a cruel way: we were non-existent in the first half, we improved in the second, but it wasn’t enough.”
Duane Vermeulen, RCT captain: “This is tough for the team, for the supporters and for all of us. But there are still good things to learn from this game, even if we lost it. We managed to keep the ball better in the second half. In the early stages of the game, we didn’t take advantage of the wind and the sunlight as we had expected and our kicking was poor. In the second half, we followed the directions properly and it went better, but it wasn’t enough in the end.”
Sources: post-game mixed zone and press conference.