Anthony Bajart: “The team is far from its potential”

Winners against Orléans 21-17 on Friday 16 October in round 8, Suresnes closed their first two blocks of Nationale with four wins and four defeats. Manager Anthony Bajart takes a demanding view ahead of the trip to Carcassonne on Friday 30 October.

The Hauts-de-Seine club have a negative points difference (145 scored, 209 conceded), weighed down by two heavy defeats to Massy (19-42) and Chambéry (49-7).

A seminar with the division’s referees

Were you at a seminar with the other Nationale coaches ?

Yes, we had an all-day seminar on Friday with the Nationale coaches and managers and the referees, coordinated by Cédric Marchat and Romain Poite, who run the refereeing pathway for the division’s officials.

Surname, first name, age, role ?

Bajart, Anthony, 31, manager of Rugby Club de Suresnes.

” There’s quite a bit of waste in our game “

What’s your assessment at the end of this first block, which has been heavy going for everyone ?

It’s true we’ve gone through two blocks of four matches back to back, so the players have had a bit of a breather. We’re disappointed with our results and, beyond the results, it’s the content that has frustrated us a little. We’ve had a lot of turnover in the squad this year and the squad doesn’t feel fully settled yet. There’s quite a bit of waste in our game.

Is it a cohesion problem ? A lack of senior players, perhaps, forcing young players to be rushed through ? What’s the main issue ?

No, we’re very happy with the recruitment we did this year, with quality players. Now, this is a sport where collective experience inevitably matters. Today, in terms of cohesion between forwards and backs and content relative to the project we want to put in place, we feel there’s still an enormous amount of work to do and that the team is far from its potential today.

A season without relegation, ” liberated ” opponents

Aren’t you ” affected “, like other clubs, by this strange season with no relegation ?

Affected, no. It should even be an advantage for us, in the sense that there’s no relegation. Now, it’s true we’re up against opponents who, for some of them, are completely liberated. I wouldn’t use the word affected, but I think there’s inevitably a slight difference.

What would you wish for Suresnes over the next two months, before Christmas ?

Beyond the results, which will inevitably matter so as not to fall away from the top 6 target set by the board, it will be about feeling a team that is improving on every front. Feeling a collective that is improving and able to develop all of its qualities.

Beyond the results, it will be about feeling a team that is improving on every front.

Anthony Bajart

” No match will be easy “

What’s your view on projects from new arrivals like Orléans, for example ?

Very clearly, this is a team coming up from Nationale 2. We beat them in the block’s last match, and honestly it was close. We think the level in Nationale keeps rising year after year, and we realise no match will be easy. We go through blocks of four matches that are tough, physically tough. Every game is a battle.

Recruiting Parisian players

Not everyone necessarily knows the singularity of playing in the Parisian inner suburbs…

It’s not a barrier. But it’s true that, unlike other teams in the pool, we have a rich environment, with two Top 14 clubs, two Nationale clubs with Massy and us, and quite a few clubs playing in Fédérale 1. There’s a large and interesting pool of players. For our recruitment, the idea was to try to bring in Parisian players, because we know Parisian life is particular. That’s the thinking behind how we built the squad.