Marc Dal Maso: "We're expecting a tough game"

The Toulon scrum coach attended the pre-game press conference ahead of Bordeaux-Bègles vs Toulon, on Thursday afternoon. He’s very cautious ahead of the trip to the French department of Gironde.
Marc, how do you approach the game against Bordeaux, just one week before the European Cup starts?
Like any other one. We’re going there to play a rugby game and, every week-end, we have to do the same thing all over again. We know it will be a hard-fought game against Bordeaux. They’re on a good spell and they’ve just beaten Oyonnax by a comfortable margin. They really know how to grab the ball, so we’re expecting a tough game. We’re not thinking about the European Cup. For the moment, we leave it aside and we’re preparing for the away game in Bordeaux: it’s the next one, so it’s the most important for the moment.
In the team, Juandré Kruger is coming back and Raphaël Lakafia will perhaps start the game…
Yes. We need to give them time to play, both because they come back from injury and because some of the other players have to rest. The ones who almost played all the games had a rough time in the dying moments of the game against La Rochelle.
You were under Jacques Brunel’s orders when you used to be a player. What can you tell us about the current coach of Union Bordeaux-Bègles?
Well, he’s quite a weird coach. He always had a cigarette at the corner of his mouth (laughs). He’s given up smoking now and that’s better for him. Bordeaux-Bègles are having a great start to the season. A player takes some advice from every coach he has and, then, he tries to do his best. That’s what I tried to do.