After two weeks of Challenge Cup, where the skies and whites did not have really convincing results, Aviron Bayonnais goes to Vannes this Saturday with caution, but ambition.
It was with a close victory (17-16 against the Scarlets) and a serious blow (52-12 au Hive Stadium) that Aviron Bayonnais has started its European campaign, a competition where management has announced clear qualification objectives. After two days, the Basques are, of course, last, but in a group where four teams out of six qualify, it would take a cataclysm for Bayonne not to pass the “cut”. “We do not want to put this objective (of qualification, Editor’s note) aside, but the priority remains the championshipexplains Swan Cormenier. We want to do better than last year in this Top 14. Here, we are coming out of two somewhat complicated weeks in terms of results in the European Cup, we took a good lesson in Edinburgh on Friday and we attacked on Monday , with a view to the trip to Vannes, which is on a very good dynamic.”
We will not go there to discover the traditions
If most of the Top 14 teams discover La Rabine and this great team from Vannes, Aviron has, in its recent past, faced the team coached by Jean-Noël Spitzer several times in Pro D2. Therefore, on Saturday afternoon, the Basques will not be surprised by the wonderful atmosphere that reigns in Brittany. “This weekend, we know that we will set foot on hostile terrain, in the same way as what we can put in place in Bayonnecontinues the pillar. There will be a full stadium, a special atmosphere.”
However, the sky and white assure it: they do not intend to go to Vannes in discovery class, even if this trip to Morbihan changes from the classic trips of the Top 14, to Toulouse, Paris or Montferrand. “We will not go there to discover the traditions, eat a Breton pancake or see the dancesinsists the left-hander. We are not going on vacation. It’s brand new to go there in the Top 14, it’s true, but if we start watching them play and we go there to see how rugby is going in Brittany, the RCV is likely to teach us a good lesson.”
Luke Tagi and Xan Mousques have taken over the collective
Cormenier, who will soon become “centurion” (read below), expects “a meeting with very direct and frontal play”, Saturday afternoon. “Vannes has a great pack and quality players behind it. Their team is quite complete”, he adds. Therefore, will Basques and Bretons engage in a fierce battle in closed melee in three days? “We perform well in this sector when we really decide to,” he admits. I noticed that when the scrum is mistreated the week before, we decide to wake up. We have weapons to use, but it must not be one day with it, then one day without it. And then, we must not forget that the scrum remains a very collective domain.”
In this regard, Aviron Bayonnais took advantage of the European truce to recover some absentees. Tuesday morning, under the Jean Dauger sun, third row Rémi Bourdeau trained normally, after having played his first match of the season in Scotland three days earlier. Right prop Luke Tagi also took part in the session without restriction, as did winger Xan Mousques. On the other hand, center Federico Mori was still in the rehabilitation phase. Hooker Facundo Bosch, although in sports gear, did not train. He watched the session from the sidelines.
It was the young Lucas Martin, alongside Swan Cormenier and Pascal Cotet, who pushed in the scrum, while the Chouzenoux-Paulos pair trained in the cage. In the third row, Esteban Capilla, Giovanni Habel-Kuffner and Rodrigo Bruni wore the chasuble of the probable holders, but it is Thursday morning that Grégory Patat will announce, to his players, who will be the twenty-three elected to defend the colors of Bayonne in Brittany.
Swan Cormenier futur “centurion”
Swan Cormenier (28 years old) should play his hundredth match at Aviron Bayonnais this weekend. There are few in the sky and white group who are “centurions”. There are, in fact, only three: Torsten van Jaarsveld, Baptiste Héguy and Guillaume Rouet. “It’s a personal satisfaction, it’s something beautifulhe admits. I am very proud to pass this bar. I don’t necessarily come from the Bayonne training, but it remains something very symbolic. Once this objective is achieved, we will have to look even higher.” Arriving in the Basque Country in 2019, after two years spent near Albi (Fédérale 1), the trajectory of the left pillar is astonishing. Despite not always an easy start, he was able to find a place in the sky and white squad, to the point of becoming one of the starters on the left of the scrum. This season, he alternates with Andy Bordelai and comes out of a very big match against Paris. “Even during the first two seasons in Bayonne, I was not necessarily destined to continue the adventure herehe continues. That’s, at least, what I thought I understood at times, from certain people, but I’m still here. I have the confidence of the club. So things don’t happen the way some people might think. There may be surprises and I’m rather proud of it.”
