Again 80 minutes from their first major title, Stade Rochelais has a date with history on Saturday (5.45 p.m.), against Leinster, in the Champions Cup final. A trophy that Jérémy Sinzelle wants to hang on his prize list at all costs, before joining Toulon, where he recently signed up until 2025. The maritime center confides in RMC Sport.
RMC Sport: Jérémy, the fact that Leinster are favorites, what does that inspire you?
Jérémy Sinzelle: It’s a classic final. You need a favorite and an underdog. But the final, you have to play it to know who will be champion. We are going to play a great Leinster team. The most important thing will be to compete, especially to [Il marque une pause], to win something in La Rochelle…
We feel that this parameter can help this starving group to surpass themselves…
I hope so. Finals, we don’t play them every year, even if, there, we’ve been chaining them for two years. You have to tell yourself that we are going to play a European Cup final, in France, at the Vélodrome. I hope we will rise to the occasion.
Is this Leinster scary?
Clearly. It’s a super well organized team, which holds the ball well. It can last 20-25 game phases.
La Rochelle exudes a lot of serenity, especially since the double confrontation won against UBB in the 8th final…
I think you have to show serenity but fearing your opponent is just as good. At least you know what to expect in the game. You know that there will be very hard sequences, that you will have to turn your back on their highlights. We also hope to have our highlights. It will be the most disciplined team, the one that holds the ball the best that will put the opposing team in difficulty.
Is there an anti-Leinster plan?
The most important thing is to defend well. Above all, don’t make stupid mistakes. This is where Sexton puts 3 points. Or they go into touch and once they are in your camp, they stay there for 10-15 minutes if necessary. On the other hand, the ball, they are not going to lose it, huh. These times are difficult to manage.
« Leinster? If you don’t put in the little effort when you have to, they automatically slaughter you! That’s the word. »
You are talking about Jonathan Sexton, the opener of Leinster and the XV of Clover. It turns out that you have already played a final against him, with Stade Français. The 2013 Challenge Cup final won 34-13 by… Leinster! You scored a try, by the way…
[Il sourit] It’s the little wink. I remember it very well. In the 20th minute, we had already taken 40 (21, in reality, in the first half hour, editor’s note). That’s the problem with this kind of team. If you don’t make the small efforts when necessary, they automatically kill you! That’s the word. It hadn’t lasted long. In 20 minutes, the match was over. You don’t come back anymore. This kind of team, in the final, holds you until the end. The key will be to make them doubt, to keep the score, to be close until the hour of play or even more if necessary. It is there, perhaps, that they will crack. If you start to let go, the match becomes very long.
Sexton / West will be one of the duels to follow. With some pressure for West, again decried in the semi-finals for his loss against the poles (25% success)…
We know it. Ihaia has other qualities. I think back to this half where he was very good in management. The goal is always quite random. Indeed, there are important moments in the match where the points were needed. It is certain that in the finals, the failure of the striker is significant but we will wish him the best for this final.
Your opener had been one of the great men of the feat achieved against this same Leinster, last year, in the semi-finals (32-23), scoring 22 points with an 8/9 against the poles. Besides, does this historic match constitute a basis for work?
The Irish have roughly the same group so yes, I think we can rely on this kind of match. We had been pretty consistent for 80 minutes and very dense. This is the kind of performance to repeat. We have already focused on this half – even if it was last year – to see what we are capable of beating this kind of team.
This match tipped Stade Rochelais into another dimension, on the Old Continent…
You are right, it was the reference match. At that time, we said to ourselves: « F***, we still beat the quadruple European champion ». It was impressive.
La Rochelle will play its fourth final since the spring of 2019…
[Il sourit] Never two without three, they say. We lost all three. I hope the fourth is the right one. That’s all we can wish for. We still have the opportunity to play one, we have to jump on it!
Did you really evacuate, as the group likes to repeat, the two defeats in the final (Champions Cup, Top 14) of last season?
There is a rage. On the other hand, it will have to be confirmed by winning one. There, I would say yes. If this is not the case, that will mean that we will not have digested. These three lost finals, I really hope that we will use them as an engine to move forward, to bring us up, to be able to win this one.
This is the first final contested by La Rochelle against a foreign club. French rugby will be behind you. It can weigh, casually?
I hope everyone sends us good vibes so we can beat them! We’ll take it all. A final in France, at the Vélodrome, is the perfect opportunity to be able to lift this trophy. I hope the whole stadium will be behind us.
« The players, we engrave them in a club when they have won something […] I hope that one day we will be able to say: ‘In 2022, Jérémy Sinzelle played the final and won the title at the Vélodrome, in the European Cup’. «
This could be your last match – or one of the last depending on your Top 14 career – in the La Rochelle jersey. Additional motivation?
Clearly! To be able to make your mark at Stade Rochelais, you have to earn something. If we win something, it will have my name engraved on it. You only remember that, not the finalists. The club and this group deserve to win something.
Would you experience it as a personal failure, joining Toulon without a title with La Rochelle?
Clearly. It would still be beautiful seasons but with a taste of unfinished business. It is only by winning that you validate all the work of a season.
You are going to join La Rade, where you started your professional career (2008-2021), a year before the end of your La Rochelle contract…
I don’t particularly want to go into detail. Then it’s an opportunity. Pierre Mignoni (the LOU manager will form a tandem with Azéma at the RCT next season, editor’s note) contacted me to get me to come home. A three-year opportunity. I am 32 years old so, automatically, that makes me finish in Toulon. The circle is complete as they say.
Did you always tell yourself that you would end your career there?
At all ! The opportunity presented itself. You shouldn’t be stupid either, you have to grab it when it falls at the right time.
Without resentment, with regard to the Stade Rochelais?
I only see the good side of things. But once again, I really hope to finish strong in La Rochelle by winning something. It’s really close to my heart. Before leaving – I don’t have my head in Toulon yet – I really hope to end this five-year cycle with something.
Your serious knee injury, which deprived you of the two finals last year, did it weigh in this situation? In the sense that – and this is logical after a rupture of the cruciate ligaments – it took you a long time to find your level, which Ronan O’Gara did not escape…
Inevitably, when you come back, you ask yourself questions. I had one year left on my contract, you have to play again quickly to show that you’re still there. It took me a while to come back. I took it upon myself, worked harder physically to catch up with the delay I had and find a place in this group. Today, here, I had the opportunity to come back well and unfortunately, or fortunately for me, to re-sign in a club. Afterwards, I wanted to show the staff that I was there, that they could also count on me. I have the gnaque.
Your versatility, your reliability, your investment are regularly praised. Do you consider that you left your mark on your passage here?
The players, we engrave them in a club when they have won something. In Paris, I had the chance to win two titles (Top 14, Challenge Cup), it’s something engraved for life. I hope that one day we will be able to say: « In 2022, Jérémy Sinzelle played the final and won the title at the Vélodrome, in the European Cup ». That is the most important.
You give the impression of making it… an obsession, shall we say?
Sincerely yes. But it must be for any top athlete. You may have had a 15-year career, if you haven’t won anything, it’s still sad. The only thing that should haunt you when you’re a top athlete is winning something. Otherwise, you are not a competitor.
#Champions #Cup #final #jump #loose #Jérémy #Sinzelle
