“How does it feel to score this decisive try for the Brennus at the very end of the match?
I’m lucky to score this last try but if I didn’t have the collective that I have next to me, the guys who make me raise my head after my little bullshit, when I miss the penalty touch, I think that I couldn’t have gone between the posts. I’m lucky to have extraordinary guys next to me who believed in it until the end, who believed in it more than me, it’s also thanks to them that we manage to score the last try and that ‘we can jump into each other’s arms at the final whistle. We are super happy, we deserved it. The Rochelais deserved it too, there is nothing to say about it, but a final is played until the end.
Will this trial mark your career?
Yes even if it is very short for the moment, it hasn’t been long! But it’s one of the highlights that I’ll remember all my life, that’s for sure. Scoring a winning try in the Top 14 final for this club is something… I don’t even know if I dreamed of it when I was little! It has become reality, I am super proud, super happy and relieved for the club which deserved to leave with this shield in Toulouse.
Did it seem long to you, this last race towards the La Rochelle goal?
Not especially, because I see that there is no one in front of me! I tell myself that we have to go into the in-goal no matter what. It wasn’t the race that seemed long to me, it was more the seconds after the penalty that I missed that seemed extremely long. I am lucky that there is a little time left to play behind so that we can come back. There’s no better feeling than having all your buddies jumping on your back. All in tears, hugging, these are moments… That’s why we play rugby.
“I don’t know if unconsciously I told myself that I had to catch up, but it may have worked”
Did you immediately analyze that there was a space to be exploited in the action?
I see that there is an excess, a discrepancy, but I don’t see the space right away. I see that I have a little time, I try to shift when Seuteni passes. I had gone to play the shift but at that moment I see that the interval is created so I put the ball under my arm and I try to finish on my heels! I don’t know if subconsciously I told myself that I had to catch up, but it may have worked. I tried to accelerate despite the cramps, despite the blows taken, and it was a relief for all Toulousains! I’m very happy that there weren’t 5 more meters, otherwise I don’t know if I’d be there with you… It’s an action that will mark our team and our memories.
You talk about catching up. Your failure on the penaltouch, it had to be digested quickly?
In the 75th, when I miss that, I tell myself that it was perhaps the match point. I try to ignore it, even if it’s not easy, but I immediately have the guys who come and say to me: “come on, it’s good, it’s not over, there are 5 minutes left, anything can arrive “. They were tops, they made me look up, I’m very happy to have scored more for these guys who helped me overcome this fact of the game, more than for myself.
We saw you very moved after the final whistle…
It’s the first time I’ve cried after a game. It’s all the tension, all the stress, that suddenly came down and all the emotion that came back up. A 22nd title for this club, which continues to be in the headliners, in the European Cup or in the Top 14, it’s special. We are a unique generation, we manage to meet challenges in each match, even if we were predicted hell tonight, that we were seen as losers, we always believed in ourselves. We focused on ourselves. We believed in it until the end and we have the chance to lift the Brennus. »