Vwanders half full or half empty? Perennial question. However, it is not forbidden to wonder how Grégory Patat will understand the success that his Rowing achieved in Vannes (21-27). When the Bayonne manager takes a look at the Top 14 ranking, while brewing his little Sunday coffee, he will be satisfied to see that his team is back in fourth place in the ranking.
An excellent accounting operation, achieved thanks to a second away success after that gleaned in Lyon at the end of October – double what it had achieved during the last two seasons – which will allow it to approach the future with ambition.
Clinging to the top of the table, the Basques will even have the opportunity to settle there, by the end of January, if they manage to negotiate the reception of Castres, from next Saturday at Jean-Dauger, before to go to Montpellier then to Bayonne, two teams in difficulty in this championship.
“It’s a bit of a miracle to win tonight” Maxime Machenaud
At the end of a week during which he discovered the confirmation of the arrival of Laurent Travers in these columns, as director of rugby from next season, Grégory Patat has every reason to give his chin when reading this dynamic. In the wake of Sireli Maqala, author of a ninth try this season which promoted him to top scorer in the Top 14, Aviron Bayonnais is in good shape as the first leg reaches its conclusion.
24 penalties conceded
These satisfactions will probably not blind the Rowing manager. To hope to transform the promises offered to it into accounting gains, its team will have to present a much more consistent face than the one it showed against this very tender Breton red lantern.
Maxime Machenaud admitted it himself, “it’s a bit of a miracle to win tonight”. For once, the expression is not overused. Because winning away having been penalized 24 times, having played for 20 minutes in numerical inferiority during the first act following the expulsions of Tuilagi (15th) and Capilla (28th) and having had only 35% of possession is indeed improbable.
How did Aviron Bayonnais survive this? We'll be able to scratch our heads for a while before finding a coherent answer to this question. But it is obvious that his ability to turn the smallest crumbs into an offensive feast constituted a real lifeline in the Breton drizzle.
It was first a counter-ruck from Sireli Maqala which allowed Lucas Martin to rush for the try. It was then a breakthrough from Cheick Tiberghien which was improved by – him again – the same Maqala. And it was finally a powerful shoulder push from Rodrigo Bruni which made it possible to make the break. “We were ultra-realistic,” praised Maxime Machenaud.
This quality is important. But it is not enough to measure up to the objectives that Rowing has set for itself. Number 9 concedes: “We cannot be satisfied with content like that. » Unquestionable.
Notes
7/10 Bruni, Margaret
6/10 Chouzenoux, Segonds, Tuilagi, Tiberghien
5/10 Paulos-Adler, Capilla, Habel-Kuffner, Machenaud, Cotet, Martin, Spring, Carreras, Cormenier.
