Pro D2 – “Our worst face in two years”: before the Landes derby against Mont-de-Marsan, Dax facing headwinds

At the final whistle given by Pierre Bruthe Dacquois had their heads down. But perhaps they also felt a form of relief? This end of the match also put an end to a difficult week spent by the Landais. It all started six days earlier, on the night of Saturday November 2 to Sunday November 3. Ratu Nacika was guilty, according to the Dax prosecutor, “sexual assaults committed on two victims, waitresses in two different establishments” and of “violence on a customer and damage to the door of one of the bars”. His teammate Jope Naceara was “implicated for acts of violence committed against the manager of a bar and a customer of this establishment”. The two players were taken into police custody this Thursday, November 7. The first, placed under judicial supervision, will be judged on November 21, the second on May 5.

With the setbacks of the two Fijians, it is not easy to prepare for a perilous trip to Béziers. “Maybe unconsciously it disturbed usadmitted USD manager Jeff Dubois after the meeting. I don't think that's going to happen anymore because we're going to put things in place. I hope the victims don't have too much headache…” In addition to the two players from the Pacific who were logically absent for the trip to Béziers, the Dacquois had left certain players off for the derby against Mont-de-Marsan, such as Barrère, Jean-Baptiste and Louis. Thus, twelve changes in the composition had been made compared to the victory against Nice.

It's a nice slap

Despite a good startthe US Dax cracked a quarter of an hour into the game in Hérault when Baptiste Abescat-Leroy, after a crazy ride, saw his kick being received in the promised land by Pierre Courtaud (16th). The start of a long evening for the Landais, who finally inclined on the heavy score of 50 to 17. “It’s a nice slapleft after the Iban Hiriart-Urruty encounter. We came through against a very good team. We got water everywhere. I think we showed our worst face in two years in this Pro D2. What can we remember? That this must not happen to us again. It’s up to us to quickly erase this.”

Faced with the power and speed of the highly charged Biterrois, the Rouge et Blanc were in serious difficulty. Offensively, they were not much more inspired, despite two anecdotal attempts recorded in the second act. “The Dacquois sought to keep their DNA until the end, and for that, respect to them”applauded Béziers fullback Gabin Lorre after the match. Certainly. But, like what had already been seen the previous weekend during the Nice receptionJeff Dubois' men did not take enough care of their ammunition in the offensive rucks. “We didn't know how to keep our possessions even though we had opportunities. We haven't won enough duels. So it's harder to play without being in the lead. Béziers was able to scratch our balls very quickly and their turnovers were made too easily. When you don't move forward, you can propose whatever you want, it doesn't work. And what's more, we also fell several balls too quickly”lamented the hooker.

In this difficult evening, the Dacquois were also unlucky. Like this missed drop from Gabin Lorre, blocked by Arnaud Aletti with a header. Stunned, the Landes captain had to go out on concussion protocol. On the following action, a penalty brought ASBH's second try. Kito Falatea was taken off the field on a stretcher after an unfortunate head-to-head collision with a teammate. “He took a knockout. There, he was in the locker room with us, he showered.”wanted to reassure Iban Hiriart-Urruty. Hit in the ankle, Benjamin Puntous then Brice Ferrer also had to leave the pitch prematurely. But the former Saint-Jean-de-Luz, unlike his coach, does not see an influence of legal events on the poor performance of his team. “On the contrary, we wanted to show a beautiful image of the clubhe concluded. We could only redeem ourselves on the ground. It's a mistake, but we don't want to hide behind that. We were able to train as needed. We came with a competitive group, unfortunately it didn't work out. We said a couple of things to each other at halftime. But after the match, it was heads down and showers.” The US Dax players will have to quickly forget these six difficult days. This Saturday (4:30 p.m.), they will “receive” Mont-de-Marsan to Jean-Dauger, during a Landes derby played in the Basque Country. But there's no better way to lift your head at the end of the block!