Mired in a difficult December with Aviron Bayonnais, Joris Segonds spoke to Rugbyrama about the recent form of his team before the reception at Stade Français this Saturday.
An essential element of a Bayonne squad which is in 8th place in the Top 14, Joris Segonds and his teammates still have a complicated month of December with three defeats in a row. It was in the columns of Rugbyrama that the flyhalf returned to the team’s situation before facing Stade Français on Saturday.
Heavily defeated on the road, on the side of La Rochelle (49-17), Joris Segonds nevertheless believed that good work had been done upstream, despite the numerous injuries: “I felt we were ready to challenge La Rochelle, but we all received a nice slap in the face. We didn’t expect to collect so much. This week, we had set the cursor quite high on certain points, notably discipline. When we come back from there with 17 penalties against us, it hurts… We say to ourselves that, in the end, we didn’t respect anything. »
A new defeat away from home which hurts and which Joris Segonds deplores: “I have the impression that, sometimes, we all want to try to save the homeland. We watched the videos, everyone wants to, but there are a little too many and we make common mistakes. (…) Everyone makes their own little mistake and, behind it, it has a snowball effect with, in the end, seventeen penalties. At this level, it’s not possible, because it’s 50 points. »
“Facing Paris is always special”
Feverish on the move, Aviron Bayonnais remains imperial in its lair of Jean-Dauger in the championship and is preparing to host Stade Français this Saturday on the occasion of the 12th day of Top 14, with all the burden that this confers: “Everyone wants to bring us down at home and we have this pressure every time. We were scared against Lyon and there is nothing to say if we lose. Over the past two years, there have been several meetings like this. The coin fell on the right side, as long as it lasts, but if we want to avoid really putting ourselves in danger, it’s up to us to play a decent match, erasing this indiscipline. »
A special meeting for Joris Segonds who joined Bayonne in the summer of 2024 after five years spent in the colors of Stade Français: “Facing Paris is always special, because it is the club with which I discovered the Top 14. Now, I am Bayonnais. Last year, when we beat them here, I was the first to knock them out. When we went to Paris, I was also the first to scold them to tell them to be careful. Well, we lost, so I got cheated too. There, they found victory again, they arrive equipped, with confidence. We will have to be careful with that, because Stade Français relies heavily on confidence. I know it will be a huge challenge for us this weekend to conquer.” It is therefore a highly important meeting for Joris Segonds and all of Aviron Bayonnais who will be keen to stem this bad series with a victory, and to offer their supporters a nice Christmas present in the process.
