Top 14: “A start to the season far from the standards of Stade Rochelais”, grimaces Hugo Reus

In difficulty in the championship - 11th, with 3 victories and 5 defeats - Stade Rochelais has no room for error when it hosts Perpignan this Saturday (5 p.m.) as part of the 9th day of Top 14. This which young fly-half Hugo Reus agreed on Thursday at a press conference.

“We are having a fairly difficult start to the season, far from the standards of Stade Rochelais,” admitted the U20 world champion. Afterwards, trust is lost. We really have to react this weekend, play a big match because we cannot afford to lose again at home after already a defeat against Castres.

And the opener gives ideas to redress the situation. “We need to set up our game, to be able to move the ball, to use our qualities. For the moment, we are not yet able to do it, we are not able to express ourselves as we should. We will have to find solutions quickly, whether in training or a match, if we want to return to the Top 6 and achieve the objectives at the start of the season.

The reception of USAP, penultimate in the Top 14, could be an opportunity to get back on track, a week before the launch of the Champions Cup of which Stade Rochelais is the double title holder. With an entry shock since the Maritimes will host on Sunday December 10 (4:15 p.m.) a province of Leinster, inevitably revengeful after its two consecutive defeats in the final.

"It is very frustrating. We are not playing the way we should be playing. It's difficult when you know you can do much better and you can't do it. It happens through simple and clean actions. We really need to get our heads straight before the Champions Cup to regain confidence and breathe in the championship,” insists Hugo Reus.