Bourgoin Preview

(Pre-training conversation with our assistant coach - roughly remembered and even more roughly translated)

“Fraser, I think that in the backs we need to start playing in a less structured manner. At the moment we’re too pragmatique, we need more intensité, vitesse! At the moment we call something, play it and then lack creativity after that. You understand what I’m saying?”

“(nodding) Yes, in fact, most of the words you’re using are the same in English. Créativité?”

“Exactement. We’re getting quick ball and now we need to inject the pace and that starts with you really taking the ball to the line then we can release our runners who need to be deeper”

“I see. We’re too pragmatic, need more intensity” (He’s loving this, excitable chap) “We need to be more free!” (Absolutely loves this, like I’m being converted to his attacking revelations) “Am I a bit anglo-saxon?”

“Oui!!”

And then we trained, and fairly well too. The laughing and joking had disappeared and everyone was focussed. It will be interesting to see the difference between last night’s training before Bourgoin and the training next Friday before the guff from Bourg-en-Bresse, especially as it’s our team dinner and night out afterwards. The commitment by the forwards to the set-piece last night was something I had only witnessed in France. They put in a Telfer-esque scrummaging session and then live lineouts which got very heated. I wonder if the same commitment to the scrummage exists at similar levels back in Scotland. I doubt it.

We lost to Bourgoin earlier in the season, definitely could have won, probably should have. You can read that post here: http://fraser-gillies-10.blogspot.com/2010/11/bourgoin-v-racing-metro-92.html

Hopefully the journey will have taken a bit out of them and they will be as intimidated by our towering housing blocks as some of us maybe were by their mountains. Speaking of the mountains, most of the team have been away skiing in the past two weeks which has left them all with impressive tans while I spent the weekend in Edinburgh, which for all the sun we had, doesn’t quite match up. I am now quite used to post-match changing room questions as to the state of my health.

So anyway, we are confident in our own ability when we play at Colombes to turn them over. We’re missing a few players who are in the France under 18 squad but Bourgoin will be missing several too so that shouldn’t be a worry, and the size and depth of our squad means that while we are weakened, it’s not a massive deal and we still aim to stuff them up front, as is the Racing tradition. I'm out here to play in these sorts of games.

But today, I intend to head into Antony, stroll round the new exhibition at the Maison des Arts, buy my Midi Olympique and enjoy a chocolat chaud at the Café de la Gare before settling in for the afternoon with two phones ready to buzz with updates from Murrayfield. Ah,the simple pleasures...