RC Vannes, the irreducible Breton promoted has not said his last word

He was promised hell. The first Breton club to reach the Top 14 and the smallest elite budget, Rugby Club Vannes was logically presented as the Little Thumb of this 2024-2025 season, in an increasingly tight championship, with big cars at the shovel. But, while we are almost halfway through the season, the Breton club, certainly at the bottom, is not dropped in the ranking. It is only four small units from the Paloise Section, 10^e. In their quest to maintain, which would be a small feat, the Bretons (15 points) are well “helped” by certain ambitious clubs which are far from their initial objectives, such as Stade Français Paris (12th, 19 pts) or Lyon ( 13th, 18 pts).

But the people of Vannes don’t care much about it, they chart their course and aim to maintain their position. Against all odds. The latest outings have boosted their morale. First there was this historic success on the lawn of the ogre La Rochelle (14-23) then this first in the Challenge Cup against the English of Gloucester (43-19), when everyone imagined that they would “balance” this competition to focus on the championship. Before the start of the season, the emblematic fullback Gwenaël Duplenne told us that there would be “surely a time of adaptation. Because we don’t really know where we’re going. We know it’s going to be hard, that we’re going to lose matches.”

Winning is a habit, so the more we win, the more automatic we will be

Karl Chateau, third row of Vannes

The RCV has certainly taken a few large suitcases away (in Clermont and Toulon) but it has generally shown that it has the answer. That he did not appear as an expiatory victim, as evidenced by his three successes (Lyon, Castres, La Rochelle) and his defensive bonus points snatched against Stade Français, Racing 92 and Montpellier. “Winning is a habit, so the more we win, the more automatic we will be and it was also important to do it for the public present whatever the weather or the competition,” recognized Karl Chateau in West France.

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And the third line passed through Toulouse, Perpignan and Colomiers to add: “We have the impression of moving forward, of finding solutions. We work hard and well here, these details are worked on more than the others and allow us to win matches that we perhaps would not have won at the start of the year. The holiday period will be tough with the capital receptions in Bayonne and Clermont, interspersed with a trip to Pau, a direct rival for retention.

The month of January will then be marked by the hearing of Vannes manager Jean-Noël Spitzer by the League’s disciplinary committee, after his controversial remarks on arbitration following the incredible defeat against UBB (after having led 29-0 shortly before the break, RCV finally lost 29-37). “In the second half, we were punished twice as much. It was obvious that the referee was going to change the cursor at the break. We are on Canal +, facing an opponent who is fighting for the title. (…) This is not the first time that we have been refereed like children.” A projection which had not gone unnoticed in the rather quiet Landerneau of rugby and which had pushed the FFR to act. But, while waiting for a suspension which should be heavy, Vannes continues to move forward. And knows how to do without his strong man, who was already suspended at the start of the exercise.

“Rugby is a sport of character and the Breton has a bit of character”

At the end of the historic victory at Marcel-Deflandre against La Rochelle, the first away in the Top 14, Ronan O’Gara praised the performance of the Vannetais who had “more aggression and desire with a good game plan”. If this setback was “a big slap”, the Maritimes did not have “no disrespect to Vannes”. Express adaptation. Without complexes. The general director of the Breton club, Martin Michel, warned: “Rugby is a sport of character and the Breton has a bit of character. He also has tenacity and pugnacity in effort and commitment. We are hard-working, silent, workers. We must not overheat ourselves, however…” This famous “Breton pride” which is the club’s slogan.