When Jean-Baptiste Pégain is there, we hear him. On the ground during training or from the gallery where he settles during the matches, the former Briviste gives voice. To the other staff members or players, sometimes very green, but in any case with passion.
You discovered the national. How do you judge this division?
I was rather surprised at the overall level, at least at the top of the table. In Périgueux, I was surprised by the requirements of the players, their desire to progress and believe it. It is very interesting to work at this level. There is the same working methodology as in many pros clubs. We try to agree with our principles on rugby and with the DNA of our manager [NDLR : Didier Casadéi]. Good atmosphere, rigor, efficiency.
How was your arrival in Cape Town?
Didier asked me to come and lend him a hand on certain aspects of the game, including the battle of the territory. Me, it was necessary that a professional structure welcomes me to finish validating my diploma as a manager. It was quite natural that I came to preseason last year as a consultant. Little by little, we get into the game. When we see that what is put in place manages to win more matches than it makes you lose, we try to go further.
You arrived in known ground …
I know Julien well [Le Devedec] For having played with him, Bébert [Bertrand Brugeille] Also. Louis [Dubois] Also went through Brive. Obviously, I know very well Didier who was my coach and with whom I trained in Brive. It is important to work in a good mood, the players feel it. Even if we do not always agree, to know and appreciate, it makes us move forward.
Did you miss the land?
I had taken a sabbatical year, I took the opportunity to move badly and see how it worked in other sports and other clubs. I could have left elsewhere, it was not done.
“Even if we are not always in agreement, to know and appreciate, it makes us advance”
-
What sports have inspired you?
Not bad handball on the avoidance game, American football on the strategy, the gain in the territory. And I visited Top 14 clubs, Pro D2 to see working methods. We try to draw inspiration from the best and draw things that stick to the DNA of the team and the staff. Players want to progress, we can’t tell them anything.
You arrived with the requirement, the rigor inherent in the top 14.
The staff already had it. This provides a new framework to players, it takes them from their comfort zone. They see that they can go higher, that, even in the hard, they can end the matches. We had set out to finish as high as possible, the players responded on the regular phase. Now it’s a second championship that begins. Everything can stop quickly. Whatever happens, the Périgueux club will have progressed.
The CAP staff is provided. How not to walk on your feet?
Didier made post sheets for everyone. Of course, when you see something in a colleague sector, you allow yourself to talk about it. This is how we are progressing. There are data but it is collegially that we manage to advance the workforce. There is respect and mutual aid between us.
Is it easy to prepare a match against the same opponent two weeks in a row?
I don’t know if it’s easy but it’s a match that will be different. Last weekend, there was little effective playing time. Rouen has not played much, waited for our faults. We may have more recovery balloons to play. The team compositions will be different, the schedule too. The matches are never alike.
“His experience”
Didier Casadéi was the Pégijoine coach in Brive, before the two men shared the Corrézien sidelines. Here they are together again. “He wants to become a professional coach and for that, he knows that it is necessary to train on a daily basis. We needed someone who has experience on camp trips, the strategy. He brings it to us, describes the CAP manager. Few national coaches have his experience as a player and coach [NDLR : 320 matches joués et cinq saisons sur le banc]. This is all the benefit for the club. »»
