Top 14: absent from everything, USAP humiliated in Bordeaux

And Chaban-Delmas and his 30,000 spectators exulted after this fourth victory of the season (46-22). An improved success after the seven achievements carried behind the Catalan line. A great performance for the twelfth attack in the Top 14, before this meeting on the eighth day of the Top 14. A moment, marked by the first steps of Damian Penaud in his new garden and which were spectacular. Almost too easy in fact, with a quadruplet in the first half.

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USAP and its 8 tries scored in 3 trips (second most prolific Top 14 club away before this match), its two victories in Perpignan and a last place left in Montpellier, aimed to no longer return empty . “It’s up to us to see if we have a little more ambition and if we have grown a little in recent months”, presented David Marty, two days before this first battle of the Atlantic. The head coach was quickly fixed with three tries conceded too quickly (24-0 in the 16th^e). Yesterday, the UBB and its international three-quarter line ridiculed Jerónimo de La Fuente and his team. The number of missed tackles is unworthy of a rugby team. Yes, the Bordeaux-Béglais group has some great players, but still….

A first half without existing

Nicolas Depoortere, a pure product of Gironde and Mahamadou Diaby too easily broke the permeable curtain of the blood and gold defense which only had the name yesterday. Rugby, a collision and contact sport, requires total commitment and impeccable physique, but we must not forget the head. “That we are not able to challenge this team, OK, but our commitment has been completely absent”, cursed Franck Azéma who did not at all appreciate the performance of some of his players.

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It seems that the 23-16 against a very small Montpellier was enough to erase the concerns of the start of the season. The slap will only be stronger. At “Chaban”, USAP waited 38 minutes before seeing Tommaso Allan – more of a line forward than anything else – put his nose in the defense, even if it meant getting a slight knockout, to send Jacobus van Tonder behind the line for the second time this season (29-5). A small consolation for the Catalans who returned to the locker room already trailing 34-5.

Three tries after the break when Bordeaux took their foot off the gas

So, what should we expect from this second period? The revolt certainly, like Posolo Tuilagi, Patrick Sobela and So’otala Fa’aso’o, the most impactful. Hoping that the players would be upset by this one-sided start. The only point of consolation was the well-kept scrum, where Giorgi Tetrashvili worked and scrapped. In the second half, the trio Lucu, Jalibert, Penaud were quickly replaced, UBB began to outsmart and did not score a single point for twenty-nine minutes. If the first period was a long ordeal for the Usapist supporters, as their team was absent from everything, the rest was slightly more successful.

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It was difficult to do worse, but while playing, the Catalans scored two tries (Roelofse 57^eAcebes 61^e), in four minutes, reducing the gap (34-17). The UBB relaxed, between its rotations and the lack of finishing, before doing what was necessary to grab the first offensive bonus of the season and close the recital. The USAP took the tide, without fighting, without resisting, before displaying some values ​​afterwards. Small consolation, but a real observation. That of players who failed in their professional duty. And yet “When you want to exist in this Top 14 and reach a new level”, asked David Marty “you have to show a good face on the outside and that’s where we’ll see if we’ve grown”. The answer came, clear and precise. And McIntyre’s last attempt at the siren changed nothing. USAP remains a small part of the Top 14.