“We have to greet the Bayonnais game, once again at home, with a masterclass from Camille Lopez”
Xavier Garbajosa could only bow. “We have to greet the Bayonnais match, once again at home, with a masterclass from Camille Lopez who knew how to corner us on our pitch. Thanks above all to him, the blue-and-whites sealed their sixth victory at the Jean-Dauger. In six games. Sold out. The most satisfying thing is that they got there after a match scenario that has not yet been tested so far. “It’s good because it means that the team is growing and can maintain a strategy,” appreciates Grégory Patat, very happy to see his players use a subtle game at the foot of the occupation and pressure on the aspect of the rains. This adaptability has allowed the Basques to pin the photo of the LOU on the running board. After Racing, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Toulouse and even Clermont at Michelin, the composite portrait of the victims is at a hellish pace.
Sterile domination
There was much to fear from Lyon’s reception, a week after leaving the attacking bonus to Montpellier, however outnumbered throughout the game. “If we had lost tonight (Saturday), we would have experienced the Christmas games under pressure,” admits the Basque coach. On the contrary, Rowing will take advantage of the next fortnight in Europe to test new options in its workforce, before going to Pau (December 23) and welcoming Toulon (December 31) in the relative comfort of the top of the table.
The first since 2014
Six consecutive victories at the Jean-Dauger are the first for Aviron Bayonnais in the Top 14 since the 2013-2014 season. The last series took place between 28 September 2013 and 8 February 2014. The victims at the time: Biarritz, Montpellier, Grenoble, Toulouse, Clermont and Brive.
It wasn’t written in advance. The locals’ enthusiastic start to the match collided with their blatant lack of realism. Blame the Georgian rocket from Lyon, Davit Niniashvili, who recovered with two rushes of more than 50 meters Rémy Baget (2nd) and Sireli Maqala (7th). And to the test of Ethan Dumortier (7-7, 17th) who quickly canceled the advantage taken with the second result in four games of the Argentine Martin Bogado (5th), who played in defense in the absence of Gaëtan Germain, operated on knee and out until the end of the championship. If we add the forwards of Baptiste Heguy (2nd) and Yann David (35th) a few meters from the line, the cursor of wasted opportunities skyrockets.
Two drops and a foot of gold
This is the importance of an international with 28 selections, leader both in the game and in the dressing room. Scorer in Germain’s absence, Camille Lopez showed all his palette: two falls – the first to give his family the lead (20th), the second to put them out of bounds (64th, 16-7) – two penalties ( 51st, 74th), a transformation (5th) and addition: an impeccable 14 points.
In addition to the accounting aspect, he found an important 50-22 (62nd) and watered the field (with Bogado, also author of a 50-22) with a surgical left foot. “Camille is important to us, pushes Patat. She has the ability to get her team out of pressure. You are a player with character who came for a project, to evolve at home and to achieve the goals of a club close to his heart. But she doesn’t want to talk about him more than the others. She doesn’t make things easy for us, even if we have to admit that her teammates have all got on well. At this rate, she will throw the keys to the Bayonne Festival on the balcony of the town hall next July.
