With four successes in a row, the Catalans spend this evening, 8:45 p.m. (on canal +) a new test in already harsh conditions.
Nevers-USAP this Thursday evening (8:45 p.m.), a day of rain, soft ground, the promise of a huge forwards fight and the hope of a little game: and if that was it, the real picture of the Pro D2?
Nevers, a new big
Nevers, like so many other exotic destinations in ProD2, has little or no appeal (but what do they think of Perpignan from there?). The town of Pierre Bérégovoy, a little asleep since the death of its protector, has nevertheless seen a man, Régis Dumange, appear from nowhere, who has taken it into his head to grow the rugby club at the cost of substantial investments. For his fourth season at this level, Nevers is now considered a model of stability. Due to the confinement, he was even deprived of the first final stages of Pro D2 in its history. Still not sexy, of course, but serious.
Raise the tone
“If we play the same match as against Grenoble (26-18), that will not be enough”, predicts the blood and gold coach Patrick Arlettaz.
Four victories, but not yet the hoped-for Catalan bulldozer: the USAP can remove a lot of doubts by winning tonight. The first frustrated are the players, not really satisfied after their last victory. “We must show more desire in the finish”, points the back Melvyn Jaminet, echoing the words of his coach. But before thinking about scoring, we will have to stand up to the big pack of Nevers.
The Oyonnax-Biarritz match postponed, the USAP could even put its paw on the Pro D2 and consider spending the winter warm. But beware !
The USAP expected firmly
Clean at home (two enhanced victories against Valence and Angoulême), Nevers returned empty Friday from a match in Aurillac that he could win (23-17).
Defender Kylian Jaminet, Usapiste Melvyn’s older brother, was denied a test. “We are very disappointed not to have won there, we have it a little through the throat, confirms the Nevers. We give 17 points, while we hurt them in conquest and behind we tried to exploit balloons to put them in difficulty. They have good defense.[…] This Monday in the video, it was annoying to see the possession, the occupation and the number of balloons affected compared to Aurillac, it was a bit of a headache. But we quickly had to switch to Perpignan because it is a very big part of the ProD2. They are starting to feel confident and we absolutely have to win because we need points. ”
Speaking of statistics, all USON tries this season are forwards, although the team is not necessarily characterized by its closed game. One thing is certain, the years go by and Nevers is gaining strength. It is not just a mere sight of the mind, since at the time of confinement the Neversois were fifth.
“Why manage Nevers, when we don’t know if we are going to play Montauban?”
Stop misunderstandings: this sentence by Patrick Arlettaz was uttered on Monday, even though he could only ignore the contagion in Montauban’s workforce and especially its magnitude. With sixteen cases reported on Tuesday, it is hard to imagine that the Tarn-et-Garonnais, opponents of the USAP next Thursday, could line up a team in Aimé-Giral.
Faced with the weekly uncertainty of “will play?” Will not play? ”, The Catalan coach promised to “Make the famous match after match”, especially in his choice of team composition. In other words, there is no question of sending a reserve team to Nevers since there is no guarantee that the next match will take place.
No one suspected that Arlettaz’s reflection would take on its full meaning the next day. But when concocting his line-up and announcing it to the players, did the coach really not take into account the sequence of the matches to come? With only four days between Grenoble and Nevers, a rotation was necessary, but without a match next week, would it have been so big?
P.C.
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