Nevers vs Grenoble: Pro D2 Battle for Securing 6th and Consolidating 2nd Place

The challenges: securing 6th place and consolidating 2nd

Grenoble will be qualified for the final stages this Friday evening, in all likelihood. Either because Provence Rugby will not have won with an offensive bonus in Oyonnax (kick-off at 7.30 p.m.), which would ensure at least 6th place for it on the evening of the 30th day; or because he will take at least one point from Nevers. But it’s more than that that the people of Isérois are aiming for by going to the Nièvre. A defensive bonus, or even a new success, would allow the FCG (dauphin of Oyonnax) to keep a significant gap on their pursuers, who could deprive them of a direct semi-final at home. And as USON (eight points behind him) can still snatch him, mathematically, 2nd place, he will have the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, by dismissing a threatening rival.

>> The classification of the Pro D2

The FCG group

>> Two Trouilloud in the XV and Gray captain: the composition of the FCG in Nevers

The opponent: Nevers does not want to stop

It is no longer the Nevers of the first leg that Grenoble will find on April 14. This USON who barely won one match out of two and who had a hard time putting continuity in his performances. Turning their backs on winter, the Jaunets have started moving forward, aligning two draws (at Béziers 32-32 and Rouen 19-19) and five wins (including three with offensive bonuses, at home). Or a nest egg of 28 points, which brought the Neversois back to the first six qualifying places. Even if the USON lost its opener and scorer Shaun Reynolds (shot in the left shoulder, season ended, and replaced by the young ASM Espoirs Gabin Michet), it can afford a very good spring. “There is a lot of enthusiasm for this match and that’s very good. Perhaps we will beat the attendance record since the start of the season (nearly 7,000 people expected), ”said his manager Xavier Péméja this week in the columns of the Dauphiné Libéré. “We know that winning this match will bring a lot of happiness. »

BOX 2 / Direct confrontations: the FCG has taken over

Nevers and Grenoble have only faced each other in Pro D2 since 2017. If the first oppositions have been balanced (two wins each), the FCG has not lost to the USON: four wins and a draw for three seasons. Les Rouge et Bleu won the first leg, with difficulty (19-18), and they also have two positive results at the Pré-Fleuri stadium: a hard-fought victory in February 2021 (13-12) and a draw obtained after a hard fight in October 2021 (21-21). So, another fruitful trip to the Nièvre?

The man to watch: Sam Nixon

A match at Nevers is inevitably a huge test of character for the visiting team and particularly its pack, subject to the local furia. Faced with Neversois who build their victory by putting enormous pressure in front, to make the visitors crack, the Alpine package will have to respond. And we will take a close look at the performance of Sam Nixon. The English left pillar – only holder four times this season, with a big cut linked to a cervical operation – has not yet fully convinced on his melee and his ferocity. Faced with a client of the caliber of Ilia Kaikatsishvili (former right pillar of the FCG), he will have an opportunity to prove it. To return, also, in the competition with Aptsiauri and Montagne, with a view to the final stages.

The statement

“It’s the eleventh game. It was long, hard. Psychologically, the players were extraordinary, they managed to question themselves: we are eight out of ten wins. It is an exceptional course. Despite the rotations, we found pleasure each time. The eleventh (match) is not an end, I hope it will be a continuation of what we did before. From Nicolas Nadau, three-quarters coach of FC Grenoble, about the long tunnel his team has gone through since February.

PLEASE NOTE: The Nevers – Grenoble match will be followed live with commentary on www.ledauphine.com/sport on Friday from 8:30 p.m.