The USAP finds the ground this Friday evening (20:30), for its first friendly match of the season, in the Sapiac “basin” in Montauban.
“When the Perpignan team will go to play in Montauban …” This song by the Jacques brothers, which made rugby fans happy in the 1970s, has gone a bit out of fashion. Since the advent of professionalism, the Montalbanais have played less with the French rugby elite. But a trip to Sapiac is always a special experience. A tough and inhospitable rugby pitch for any visiting team. Resuming the season in the famous “cup” is certainly the best way to measure their workforce, this Friday evening August 12 (20:30), for David Marty and his staff. There is never a friendly match in Montauban and Mathieu Acebes, who is starting his 17th season of top-flight rugby at Sapiac, knows it better than anyone. “Montauban is a historic club in our rugbyHe explains. We will come across a team motivated by the idea of facing a Top 14 club, in a hostile environment. The opportunity for us to enter the season well, with collective benchmarks “.
Catalans will find familiar faces in the Tarn-et-Garonne. That of the outside Jean-Bernard Pujol, who came to relaunch himself on the banks of the Tarn. Or physical trainer Nicolas Szezur, who has returned to rugby after a sabbatical season. Montauban won his first friendly (12-7) against Narbonne in Leucate.
David Marty will give the opportunity to express himself to all his staff, apart from the Argentine internationals De La Fuente and Oviedo, who started with the Pumas, and Taumoepeau who will return to Perpignan on August 17th. Seilala Lam is rested, as are the two new recruits Kélian Galletier and Victor Moreaux. Two separate mixed teams (new-old mixed) should each play one half.
