Through Normandy editorial staff
Published on
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The Lions jumped at the chance. After three straight losses in Pro D2, the Rouen Normandy Rugby found the way to victory at the best time, on the occasion of the reception of the leader of the championship Perpignan (Occitanie) this Friday May 7, 2021, on behalf of the 29th day. Faced with Blood and Gold already turned towards the semi-finals and not very concerned by this meeting, the players of Rouen (Seine-Maritime) knew how to impose their desire.
By thus dominating the substitutes of the USAP, the Normans validated for good their maintenance in Pro D2 at the end of the season. Despite his home win against Nevers this Friday evening (36-28), Valence-Romans, first relegation, is in fact still five points behind the RNR before the final day next week. Mathematically, the Drômois can no longer overtake the Normans, Rouen having scored one point more than Valence-Romans in the confrontations between the two teams.
A perfect start
In an evening placed under the sign of tribute to Nemani Waka, former RNR player (in 2018/2019) who died this week from cancer, the Lions immediately set up in the opposing 22 meters and hit entry. In the wake of a first scrum on the right side, the ball travels to the other wing where Dean Adamson flattens into a corner. Jordan Michallet transforms, Rouen takes the lead (7-0, 3rd).
#PROD2 – J29
For the penultimate time of the season we take a look at the standings ???? we now know the 6 teams qualified for the finals ???????? To maintain the suspense will last until the last minute of the last day ⌛️ ????⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Uke8ZZFZBS– Rugby PRO D2 (@ rugbyprod2) May 7, 2021
With a widely revised starting XV (10 changes compared to the victory against Nevers two weeks ago), the USAP is struggling to find its footing and the penalties are multiplying against the visitors. Less than 5 minutes after Adamson’s try, Peter Lydon was thus offered the opportunity to increase the score on a distant penalty. The Irish full-back does not miss the target and gives the locals ten steps ahead (10-0, 5th).
Lions widen the gap
Rouen continues to clearly dominate the first period. A new convincing streak in the Perpignan camp thus allows Jordan Michallet to add three new points on penalty (13-0, 13th). In the process, Perpignan gets its first penalty of the match in the middle of the field, but the opener Ben Volavola fails in his attempt. This first opportunity has the merit of awakening the Blood and Gold, which will then pose more and more problems for the Lions.
The Rouennais are however formidable efficiency. On their next foray into the Perpignan camp, Richard Hill’s men get a new penalty easy to transform for Jordan Michallet (16-0, 24th). Four minutes later, the visitors finally unlock their counter, on a new distant penalty from Volavola, more precise this time (16-3, 28th). On the action, the Rouen right pillar Jérémy Clamy-Edroux is injured and must give way to Phil Swainston.
USAP overwhelmed
If fatigue begins to be felt after an intense first half hour, the Rouennais continue their almost flawlessly until the end of the first period, even registering another penalty by Jordan Michallet. At the break, Rouen Normandie Rugby logically leads by sixteen lengths (19-3).
Performing in the first act, the Rouen defense resumed on the same pace after returning from the locker room. Caught by the throat in the game and held in respect in conquest, its usual strong point, the USAP seems without solutions, especially as the Lions continue to garner with a new penalty from Jordan Michallet (22-3, 46th) .
Maintenance, finally!
One way, the meeting begins to become monotonous and the Normans doze off somewhat. Perpignan winger Lucas Dubois took the opportunity to intercept a pass in the middle of the field and go for the test without opposition (22-10, 50th). The Lions quickly regain their concentration and resume their domination, materialized by a new penalty obtained in the opposing 22 meters and passed by Jordan Michallet (25-10, 55th).
The @RouenNdieRugby wins 31-17 against the USAP and validates its maintenance in #PROD2 pic.twitter.com/xvYtkKNG1Y
– Rodolphe Desseauve (@RDesseauve) May 7, 2021
Impeccable in his shots on goal (8/8), the Rouen opener will even register six additional points on two new penalties, in a well-controlled end to the match, despite the test of the young scrum-half Mateo Jeune Joly (31-17 , 75th). Large winner of a match that he will have dominated from start to finish, Rouen Normandie Rugby has fulfilled expectations for the last of the year in Mermoz, before moving to the Robert-Diochon Stadium next season. Still in Pro D2, then.
Post-match reactions
It is a very good thing that we are finally maintained, the goal has been reached. It’s great for the region, Normandy deserves to have a professional team. We saw in the video that they tended to take a lot of points in the first half and then come back, so we were careful to stay clean, even if we made a few more mistakes in the second half. We knew how to keep our head on our shoulders, remain pragmatic and avoid doing the stupid things we had done against Provence Rugby. We will try to finish well next week in Biarritz, because we have a good group this season, we want to finish in style.
The irony of fate will have been that we maintain against the first, for the last match of the season in Mermoz. It’s nice, we had previously had two cartridges against less well ranked opponents (Mont-de-Marsan and Provence Rugby, editor’s note), we had failed and there, we managed to have a good match and win. We would still have liked to ensure this maintenance a little earlier to go and titillate the mid-table teams. We knew that Perpignan was collecting points at the start of the match and scoring a lot at the end of the game, so we had to take a big lead. We had a good first period in management and in the discipline, we turned at half-time with 8 penalties to 4 in our favor, and that’s what made the difference. I hope that we will take the 40 players to Biarritz, so that we are together until the end. We have already managed to annoy a lot of big teams away this season, so will go there to titillate the BO before its final stages.
We are relieved, we will be able to go to Biarritz without pressure next week. It’s a bit stupid to have had to wait for this match to be officially maintained, I had anticipated that we would do that a little earlier, but it is sure that it is a satisfaction. Before the match we had felt that Perpignan was perhaps a little too relaxed, we were able to take advantage of it. We also knew they were going to finish strong, but we stayed strong. We were a little physically tired at the end, but we kept our concentration. All the players said to themselves that we had to give everything until the 80th, that the maintenance was at the end. We still gave them a little gift with this intercepted pass, but it didn’t cost us too much tonight.
Rodolphe Desseauve
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