Paul Alo-Emile is playing the World Cup in a country where he has been playing since 2015 and where he now masters the language perfectly. The pillar of Stade Français will play, this Thursday, a crucial qualifying match with Samoa, against Japan, in Toulouse (9 p.m.).
Paul, you have been playing at Stade français Paris for several seasons. What is it like to play this World Cup in France, a country that you now know well?
It’s really very special for me. I’ve been here for eight years, I’m starting my ninth season here, it’s become my home. I have two children who were born here. France is truly my home! In our group, there are players who have never been to France, it is a pleasure for me to welcome them in a way, to introduce them to French life, and especially gastronomy! I’m really happy to be here.
Last July, during the Pacific Nations Cup, you won in Japan (22-24). What do you remember from this meeting?
It was an important day for us to have beaten Japan, away from home! We are obviously very proud to have won against this team. It was the first time in eleven years that we beat Japan! Losing for eleven years against Japan shows that it is not easy to dominate them. It’s a team with physical strength and key players. To win again, we have to have confidence in our game plan and play our game like we said we would. This performance showed us! This match against Japan will be very important, more than the other matches. Once this meeting is over, we will focus on England and then on to the rest. But before that, we want to win against Japan!
Do you expect the match to be won up front?
Yes, the forward game will be really essential. This will be a key sector to be able to win this meeting. We will have to be focused and efficient in scrums and rucks and fully commit to them. But there are 23 players on the field. We will, of course, have to all be confident on the pitch to achieve a victory!
You caused a lot of problems for Argentina and you could have won. What did you miss to win this meeting?
There is no secret : we were not good at execution to finish our actions by committing technical faults and by not scoring points when we went to their camp. We approached the match with maximum confidence. We had the team and the game plan to beat them. But we had made too many mistakes. This week, we stepped up our work to achieve our goal of being able to beat a very good Japanese team. We have turned the page from Argentina!
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