Romain Bézian, third line Catalan center from Colomiers, before the clash between USCo (5th) and the leader blood and gold this Tuesday (5 p.m.) in Michel-Bendichou.
In six seasons, Romain Bézian (32 years old, 1.96 m, 112 kg) has established himself as a Colomiers executive to the point of now wearing the captain’s armband. The third line Catalan center will meet on Tuesday (5 p.m.) the USAP, which had allowed him to discover professional rugby (11 Top 14 matches between 2010 and 2013). Interview.
You were not aligned within the reorganized team which lost in Montauban Thursday (16-13). Do you prefer the reception of Perpignan?
Redesigned, not really. We have a homogeneous group of 42 fairly interchangeable players. That’s how we did a performance in Provence (15-23 victory on Matchday 5), where we changed a lot of players. It turns all the time, it goes well like that and we did not particularly tick this match in Perpignan.
Does welcoming the leader boost your motivation?
We welcome the leader who remains on a series of five victories, with good performances. We especially say that we will have to be at our best level to hope for something.
Are you afraid of the current Catalan dynamic?
They are awesome. Both in defense and in attack, we must not leave them crumbs because we could see against Oyonnax (20-10) that even when they have a small ball to play, they manage to play in the defense , to move forward and score, as on the test of their third line (Genesis Mamea Lemalu) which is magnificent. But we have strengths to promote and we do not come forward as victims.
“The chocolate shield, we didn’t melt it”
Do you consider Perpignan the favorite for the climb?
Yes, with Oyonnax. These are the biggest budgets, they are already at the top. They are the best placed.
Do you see this match as an opportunity to get closer to the top of the standings?
Our goal is to qualify for the finals. Afterwards, this match just before the holidays will be a turning point to see which place we can aim for *. Apart from the draw against Oyonnax (16-16), we win at home and we hang on outside. In terms of content, we would hope to produce better rugby and we are getting down to training. But in terms of results, we are in the nails.
How did you prepare for this meeting, just five days after Montauban?
In fact, it’s been a while since we played a match on Saturday and then a match on Thursday. It’s not easy because the preparation is truncated, we can’t train too much, but so far, we’ve managed it all pretty well. Yet it’s been eleven matches that we have chained because of the postponements due to the Covid, but for now, we are doing well. Our strength is our workforce. We have young people at the level, who seize their chance as soon as it presents itself. It allows us to continue.
The players of the USAP still have the provocation of President Colomiers through their throats after your victory in a friendly match last summer at Aimé-Giral (5-21) **. How do you feel about this?
We are not responsible for what presidents say. We’re here to play rugby. It was a friendly match and we didn’t ask for anything. We didn’t melt the chocolate shield. We won a friendly match, it’s anecdotal and the upcoming match has nothing to do with it. If the Perpignan players want to hang on to that, great good for them.
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