Former New Zealand winger George Bridge said his Montpellier side are “on the up” before hosting Castres on Saturday in a rerun of last season’s French Top 14 final. Until last month’s win over Clermont, the league champions were without a victory in six matches. They sit four points from the play-off places with five matches of the campaign remaining.
Montpellier were knocked out of the Champions Cup last 16 earlier this month by Exeter on a try count after extra time despite being down a man for the final 30 minutes.
“We’ve had a few performances we haven’t been too happy with and we feel like we’re on the up now leading into the last few games,” Bridge told AFP on Thursday. We’re out of the Champions Cup now so all our focus is leading into the rest of the season and the Top 14.
Bridge, who can also feature at full-back, arrived on the Mediterranean coast in November, a year after the last of his 19 All Blacks appearances, leaving his Test future in doubt.
“At the time it was a really tough decision, but I came to the realisation that it was the right time to go and I’d always wanted to come to France to play in the Top 14 and some European Cup games,” he said. Montpellier had just won the Top 14 and they had reached out to me, so it seemed too good not to come.”
His former head coach at the Crusaders, Scott Robertson, will take over from Ian Foster at the All Blacks after the Rugby World Cup. The tournament starts on September 8 as France face the three-time winners.
It’s pretty unreal that it’s been finalised and allows Fozzy (Ian Foster), who I got on with really well, to focus on this year because there’s the World Cup,” Bridge said.
“There was a bit too much chat going on back home, so it’s good that it’s finalised and everyone can focus on supporting the team and Fozzy leading into the World Cup.
Source: eNCA
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