By the time the reader reads these lines, the men of Renaud Gourdon, the coach of C’Chartres, will already be there, in Niort. The CCR joined Deux-Sèvres this Saturday, September 18, the day before the match, in order to prepare well for its shock against Niort RC – its new name since 2018, even if the name of Stade Niortais has been kept in the statutes.
A “shock” between a team which discovers the universe of Fédérale 1 and a Deux-Sèvrienne formation which has been sailing there since 2017 and which aspires to a place in the top quartet to remain in Fed1 next season and which aims in the medium term the ProD2.
“A tone above Arcachon”
“Niort is a tone above Arcachon (note: Chartres lost its opening match 30-7 at the Bassin), in all areas of play, loose Renaud Gourdon. It is one of the favorites of the hen with the scarecrow Périgueux, Rennes or Marcq-en-Barœul ”, adds the technician.
Precisely, Niort, who started his season with a success against Langon (30-9), was defeated in Marcq last weekend, five minutes from the end, on a drop (15-12), at the ‘after a very closed meeting, without trying, and tense until the last second.
Portrait of striker Thomas Roche
“We approach this match without pressure, we go there to have fun, to try to cause them problems. And if we can bring back points, it will only be a bonus. We didn’t hurt our head for this match. Renaud Gourdon knows that Niort and Chartres do not fight in the same court.
A past in the elite
Unlike the CCR, which is discovering the fourth federal level, Niort has a past in the oval. In the 1950s, Stade Niortais evolved into the 1st division, the ancestor of the Top 14, an elite from another era made up of eight pools. The Poitevin club had even reached the round of 16 in 1954. Niort had found, in 1979, the elite when it consisted of a group A and B. Another era.
Forty years later, the NRC remains ambitious with a group made up of former Top 14 elements, like Jean-Baptiste Roidot, a second line passed through Biarritz and Agen.
Jean-André Provost
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