Bortolami’s assistant, creator of the “wolf pack” defense, started work at Ghirada with his new team
TREVISO. He is one of the new figures of Benetton Rugby’s renewed technical staff and has begun his first adventure on Italian soil. Paul Gustard is Marco Bortolami’s assistant coach and the green-and-white defense coach. The Englishman has been coaching the Lions for over a week along with the rest of the members of the coaching staff and has made his first impressions to BEN TV.
Paul, first of all how is the setting going in Treviso?
“We found a great welcome, clearly with the pandemic we remained in quarantine as soon as we arrived. My wife and my three children arrived in Treviso two weeks after me, we started visiting the city center and getting to know the splendid Italian culture, including the food, the wine, the wonderful days for a beautiful start here. We started with the preseason, so my wife can do other activities with the children and my family and I are enjoying these first weeks in Treviso ”.
How are the first training sessions with the team going?
“First of all I think the players are very energized, the young players are following the more experienced who indicate the direction in which the club wants to go, I am very impressed by the energy they are transferring into training and by the attitude and desire to learn. I am also happy with the energy that is growing in this second week compared to the previous one, the players know what we expect and the level we want to reach. Because it is important to build on the success obtained last season, we are increasing the physical and technical foundations during the training of these two weeks ”.
How is the inclusion in the new technical staff continuing?
“The acquaintance between us staff members started around January, we had several calls on Zoom and Facetime, phone calls with Marco Bortolami. We are building a very good friendship and a very good connection about the direction we want to go as a team, how we on the staff can support the players. I believe that the work of all the staff is creating a beautiful environment for the players to perform, while also creating an opportunity for them to grow as players. We are a staff that unites different cultures and comes from different training experiences and therefore can share different points of view on the program. A challenge for each of us, which we must support and give the players the right lessons to improve ”.
What do you expect from this adventure?
“Personally I would like to bring improvements to the team, as I said before we won the Rainbow Cup last season, we want to build on this foundation and on the work of the club in the last years in the European field. We have to aim for the future, we have a lot of quality and several promising young people, I have to make sure that they give their best and can satisfy their ambitions. After that we hope that the team continues to be successful, we proved it in the Rainbow Cup where we remained unbeaten, we have the skills to win the great matches and the skills to do it constantly, through the work that I have to bring, with Marco, Fabio and Andrea. “.
Can you give an anticipation of your technical-tactical vision, especially as regards the defense?
“There are two ways to interpret the defense, the first is that if you don’t want to allow a goal to be scored, a conservative vision in my opinion, in which you think about connections, integration and a mentality of bringing the ball back. I firmly believe in the latter thought, to push back the oval as quickly as possible. Particularly when we look at the strength of the team, if they have dangerous backs I think it is important to give ourselves a chance to break the game in attack, turnover and counterattacks. To do this it is important to take the time of the opponents, that is to have a more aggressive line than last season and create opportunities to transform defense into attack ”.
How important is it for you to join the staff of the Lions that come from the Rainbow Cup victory?
“It is fantastic to join a club that comes from such an important victory, the environment is happy and has tested what success means. It is always difficult to win an international level competition, we have shown that we can compete with anyone, now it is about improving our ability to win often. The people in the club are energetic and willing to take another important step. I wish to play my part in this process, not only in the development of the players, but also in stimulating the staff to grow with new ideas, based on my high level managerial experiences for 12 years in the Premiership and in the England staff ”.
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