Maybe, this Saturday, Patrick Arlettaz will have a thought for March 22, 2014. More than seven years in the rearview mirror, the last confrontation between Perpignan and Biarritz in Top 14. The coach of Usap is the only survivor, staff and group of the two clubs combined, from this other era, which had recently seen the two teams shine in the elite. Since then, both Catalans and Basques have lost their luster, gnawed at their brakes in Pro D2, experienced a catastrophic first comeback for Perpignan, before validating, at the end of last season, their accession to the Top 14. Seven years after having experienced the descent together .
Decidedly inseparable, the two promoted meet on this second day of the championship. A duel from the top of which twelve Shields of Brennus contemplate us. Seven for Usap – the last in 2009 – five for Biarritz. A piece of history back in the first division, after years of reconstruction, renewal of the workforce, and financial stabilization for these two historic French rugby.
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“A little final”
Three months after facing each other in the Pro D2 final, Perpignan and Olympic Biarritz have another meeting, for what they already qualify as “Little final”. Almost ten years after their glorious years, the two clubs place their ambitions at the height of maintenance this season, and the inter-promoted meeting is already worth a lot. Outclassed last week in Brive, the Perpignanais did not celebrate their reunion with the Top 14, unlike the Biarrots, convincing winners at Aguilera of the Union Bordeaux-Bègles. A second defeat in two days would revive in the Pyrénées-Orientales the specter of the traumatic 2018-2019 season for Arlettaz’s men, “Something that marked the team”, in which they had only managed to secure two victories in one year. “The state of mind is no longer enough. You have to progress very quickly in rugby, concedes the technician Sang-et-Or. And put more heart. “
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The soundtrack wants to prove that its debut with a bang against the band in Jalibert was not just an isolated act. That its workforce, rich in Francis Saili, regularly cited among the best players in Pro D2 last season, and hooker Lucas Peyresblanques, very visible against the UBB, has the shoulders to stabilize in Top 14. And that the controversies of all kinds – evoked relocation of their meetings in Lille, strained relations with the media, dissensions between the presidency of the club and the amateur section – do not affect the athlete.
“We want to start quickly and try to show that we can be competitive”, insists trainer Matthew Clarkin. Even if the Basques have not been imposed on Aimé-Giral for… 14 years. There too, a slice of history behind.
Toulon: Sergio Parisse, the former captain of Italy, will retire at the end of the season.
Rugby VII: the French men’s and women’s teams have given up on the 2021 season of the world circuit, reduced to two stages in Canada, in September, due to different laws on Covid-19.
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