To avoid a hell of a headache, the Sapiacains have put in place the ingredients to overcome Biarritz, in the wake of Jérôme Bosviel once again crucial.
Remaining on three consecutive defeats, including a murderous one at Sapiac (against Colomiers), the Montalbanais of president Jean-Claude Maillard, and the Biarrots who had their defeat at Aguilera the previous week, against Dax, in their throats, were driven by a strong desire for revenge. We saw it before the match, when the entrance to Sapiac was flooded with red smoke bombs and Basque flags, each larger than the other, carried by supporters chanting “BO, BO”. On the synthetic field, in military rigor, a battle plan was put in place, which the professional soldiers would have to follow to lead them “to the day of glory”, the players and staff slipped between their supporters and friends. , at a less rhythmic pace, at the entrance to the stadium, before entering the pitch in the middle of the flag bearers. The decor was in place. There was still a match to play and win. We quickly saw that both teams were there to win. Pierre-Philippe Lafond’s men are more efficient and much more disciplined than those of Matthew Clarkin. It is also in a situation of numerical superiority that the locals will score two tries to take the lead at the break. At the start of the second period, the Basques passed behind the defense lines of the city of Ingres, and took the advantage. This is where Montauban brings in his chief artilleryman Jérôme Bosviel, who, when he moves his little finger, shows that the target of the pagelles is identified. The commander-in-chief will use the artillery gunner five times who will hit the mark, for the victory that we immediately know is dedicated to Alain Alloi, the man who fed the troops, taken away from the love of his people, after 48 years of volunteering. Before the match the USM family was also united around the Bardot family, devastated by the disappearance of Aline.
A battle won, not war
It is in this context that the USM army won the battle of remembrance of November 11, by beating Biarritz, but it did not win the war. There are 19 battles remaining to be played, on selected dates, imposed by the National Rugby League. Each day has enough trouble of its. The Sapiacains have fifteen days to prepare for their trip to Béziers. This is the next battle on the calendar. The general staff will have to develop a new combat plan, certainly different from that of this Thursday in Sapiac. The context, the terrain, the atmosphere, everything will be different. Only one thing will remain, and that is that there will be a rugby ball, between fifteen fighters from each team who oppose each other. Certainly Pierre-Philippe Lafond said before the match that it was not a capital match, but an important one. We can say, without risk of being mistaken, that group life is very different this morning, with victory, than it would have been with a defeat. In rugby, as in military life, winning or losing a battle is not the same thing. It can completely change the life of a country, of a team. “With the quality of players we have, some are international, others have played in the Top 14. We have to let go, and play rugby. It feels so good to play, even if 80 minutes is a long time” said Maxime Mathy, one of the centenarians of the USM who we can count on, like a hairy 14-18 year old.
#Montauban #USM #duel #revengers
