Facing LOU this Saturday afternoon (4:30 p.m.), USAP must react after its debacle at Bordeaux-Bègles (66-12). The Catalans also want to keep Aimé-Giral invincible.
Sometimes it takes a good slap to get your mind straight. Well, in six matches, USAP has already taken two: one in Béziers against Montpellier (7-26 defeat) a month ago, and a bigger one in Bordeaux last Saturday (66-12 defeat). This team still seems to be looking for itself. Between long-term injuries, returning players, players lacking rhythm and changes here and there, there has not yet been the possibility of having a stable starting XV since the start of the season. Against Lyon this Saturday (4:30 p.m.), it will be a little more the case. All the important elements left to rest in Bordeaux are there (Beria, Ruiz, Brookes, Warion, Brazo, Velarte, Oviedo, Ecochard, Allan, Dubois, De la Fuente), as are those who have regained some playing time at Chaban-Delmas (Veredamu, Tetrashvili, Tanguy, Sobela). Which makes up a more than competitive team, despite the thirteen absentees still counted. And this training must wash away the insult of a Saturday in Bordeaux which turned into an ordeal.
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React as a team, and mark the occasion
Because everyone came back to training Monday morning with their heads still a little groggy. But with this conviction that, until the end despite the score, they did not give up. And it is on this state of mind that we must continue to build. This is what USAP has relied on for decades and decades. It must continue. And receiving at Aimé-Giral to make up for a completely missed match, there is no better way to reassure yourself, first of all, but also to send a message to the other teams in the championship to say that, no, the USAP is not doomed to continue playing this year.
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This is not the objective stated by the club since the start of the summer. And the arrival of LOU should allow the Catalans to mark the occasion once again, as against Clermont (improved victory 33-3). Even if the Lyonnais are in good shape, 4th in the championship, 4th best attack, they still have problems exporting. It was their big problem last season, and it seems to be confirmed. Apart from a narrow success in Montpellier during the first day (22-26), the Rhone residents are the only ones to have lost against Vannes (30-20) and took 43 points from La Rochelle (43-22). In Perpignan, Fabien Gengenbacher’s men come to test themselves. And they will undoubtedly be received. One upset Catalan is worth ten. So imagine 23… “We had a bad match in Bordeaux. Now we have to sort things outharangue le capitaine Jerónimo de la Fuente. I want a team that is very aggressive in defense.” As she was able to do on her two receptions at Aimé-Giral, with only 13 points conceded.
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In any case, this third reception of the season at Aimé-Giral is important because it must allow the blood and gold to stay afloat. For the moment, the USAP is outside the red zone, ahead of Paris and Vannes. And these two teams travel to Castres and Clermont this weekend. There is therefore the possibility of widening a small gap, but above all of catching up with the Top 14 peloton. Without falling behind, while remaining discreet. They know it anyway. They have a disbursement defeat in their record, so they do not have the right to another mistake at home until they have won away. Victory is essential this Saturday afternoon. To prove that Bordeaux was just a crash and not a reality, and to restore this blood and gold image. It is in this sense that Jerónimo de la Fuente and his teammates worked throughout the week.
