Paris (AFP)

Last in the Top 14, the Stade Français welcomes Pau on Sunday to validate the progress felt internally since the service firefighters Thomas Lombard, Julien Arias and Laurent Sempéré, former club players, took control in the fall.

"We need to start, to capitalize on something." In the mouth of Thomas Lombard, we perceive more impatience than concern, even though the accounting situation of the biggest budget in the championship - 35 million euros - is still as worrying.

Eight points behind Castres (12th), the first non-relegation, is a lot and a little at a time compared to the 16 days remaining. "There are 80 points on the table. If you start to think you can go down, this is the best way to get there," said the new general manager, appointed in mid-October in the middle of a storm.

The heads fell one by one after a disastrous start to the season (8 defeats in 10 games): first President Hubert Patricot (September), who will not have made an impression, then General Manager Fabien Grobon (October) , hated by the supporters, and finally the sports director Heyneke Meyer and his South African staff (November), who had lost the locker room. In charge of Lombard and the new retirees from the fields Julien Arias and Laurent Sempéré, appointed interim coaches, to put the boat afloat.

- Even Wild started it -

Something bad is good: the illustrious Parisian club (14 championship titles) found themselves around familiar faces, shoulders that wore their jerseys. "We had to do better with fewer people, it was more about cohesion and active solidarity", says Lombard about the transformation that took place in the fall.

Which even concerns the boss! By landing Patricot, Hans-Peter Wild has indeed chosen to become owner-president. "He takes some pleasure because he discovers his club," underlines Lombard. The Swiss billionaire of German origin "went to see the Hopes, he participated in meetings with the players… a certain number of things which he had not known until now, which bring him a knowledge of the world of rugby."

Things have also changed on the ground. From a coach with whom the current no longer passed, the players ended up with two of their former teammates, and joined forces. "We already know them by heart, there is no need to adapt", smiles the scrum half Arthur Coville. "Everyone is behind Julien and Lolo so it is felt on the group: we take more training on our own, everyone is concerned, it's more pleasant to live, it has nothing to do with before . "

The first battle of the Arias-Sempéré duo, the involvement of the players, seems to be won. "There are things that are much better in training," says Sempéré, who feels "an osmosis and a collective desire to succeed."

- A Timely Challenge -

If they did not find the way to victory (1 success in 4 days), the two blocks of European Challenge fell on time to "try things", according to Sempéré, and rotate the workforce so to involve it in full, where Meyer often relied on the same. "There are quite a few players who had played little and who could have had their luck," said captain Yoann Maestri.

In terms of the game, Coville has also seen better. "We no longer take the game on our own, that's what we wanted. It's a more airy, more pleasant game and we have the players for that," said N.9.

Parisians have also recovered their globalists, including the Gaël Fickou center, the centerpiece of the attack, and the infirmary is down. "We have had few major injuries in recent weeks, we have been able to work well, very well even, intensely," said Maestri. We must now win.

© 2019 AFP