Paris (AFP)

The move to Munster, where rugby is "almost a religion", is "a big and big challenge" for Racing 92, said Thursday the head coach of the Parisians Laurent Travers before the shock of European Cup Saturday.

Q: The Munster is still very strong in his stadium at Thomond Park (in Limerick, south-west of Ireland). How do you approach this trip?

A: "I think that they have had to lose twice (at home) since the European Cup exists (five times in reality, Ed), and I hope we will be the third. see their performance in the first game, win 5 points (ranking) against the Ospreys (win 32 to 13), it's not a small game, it's a big game that they realized. team that is almost every year in the quarterfinals or semifinal or even final, so we expect something very difficult.And after, to enter the rugby temple in Limerick, we know very well that for it's almost a religion, so I think for the players it's going to be a great adventure, a great challenge, a big challenge. "

Q: The Munster will be all the more comfortable that it will have a weather (8 ° C, rain) "house" ...

A: "It's also part of the conditions in Ireland, so they have an advantage over us, the terrain, the weather conditions they're used to, but it's up to us to stand up and respond. is the kind of games that everyone wants to play, (...) they have prepared it very well, they consider it almost like an eighth finals, we can see it like that, but for us it is is especially important for the first game away, to show that we are able to exist. "

Q: Donnacha Ryan is going back to his roots - he played at Munster from 2004 to 2017 - probably second-line partner to Boris Palu, a pair that works well. How do you explain this complementarity?

A: "They are used to playing together first, there is one (Palu) who is able to play and break tackle, and do what is called pruning shears, that is to say to flatten very low, to rise very quickly, and then there is another one (Ryan) who has a lot of experience, who knows how to place himself, who has a lot of activity and which also brings a lot of aggressiveness So they are quite complementary. "

Interviewed at a press conference

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