It's a success that will do the greatest good for Fabien Fortassin's men. Stuck in last place in the ranking, his men won (19-24) on the pitch of Nice, a direct competitor for maintenance. Bad operation, on the other hand, for those promoted who are preparing to experience a tough month of November.
They announced their intentions from the outset. Faced with a direct competitor for maintenance, the Drômois of Valence-Romans want to make an impression this Friday, October 25. And also score points, to try to get out of the bottom of Pro D2 as quickly as possible.
Valence-Romans strikes from the start
On the kick-off, struck by the Damiers, the ball was not caught by Louis Suaud who made a forward move. Well positioned, slightly to the left about thirty meters from the line, the scrum offers a great first launch pad… And a first try, on a well-executed placed attack. Guillomot breaks through and finds Marrou inside. Valence-Romans opened the scoring (2nd, 0-7). This is off to a good start.
While they do not have to exert their talent to score the first try of the match, their opponents only manage to do so after a quarter of an hour of play, at the cost of long work made difficult by the good defense of the VRDR (15th, 7-7). It is precisely this phase of play which they have lacked since the start of the season that the visitors want to rely on to build their first away victory this season. Lucas Méret, the best director in the championship, scores a penalty (19th, 7-10) before leaving the field, injured, and handing over the torch to Joris Moura. The Portuguese full-back was pragmatic and took two penalties (33rd and 37th) despite his team's numerical inferiority. At the break, VRDR has already done half the work (40th, 13-16).
Joris Moura in the oven and in the mill
With six defeats in seven games, Mathieu Vachon's teammates have no choice but to be humble when entering the second half. Opposite, Nice remains on two victories, including one acquired on the tough pitch of Aurillac, last week. Beware of waking up in Nice, because nothing has been done yet. “Nothing”, in fact, is pretty much all that happens when we return from the locker room. Neither team wants to take the initiative in the 40-40 zone, the exit from the center of the field where the slightest mistake can turn against the person who makes it. There are plenty of kicking games, then. And the penalties are raining down.
A first away victory
United and diligent, the visitors are nevertheless starting to show serious signs of fatigue. The freshness of the bench is not everything. And it is from a player already present on the pitch that the spark comes, a quarter of an hour from the end. Joris Moura breaks through the center of the field and finds Thomas Lhusero inside, within 22 meters of Nice. The action continues on the right side and, some time later, Sven Girlando dives into the goal (65th, 16-21). Moura, still him, added three points a few minutes later (68th, 16-24) before missing the target twice at the end of the match. Two failures which allow Nice to stay in the game and go all out on one last shot, after the siren (80th, 19-24). A final mistake ensures the victory of Valence-Romans. This evening, Fabien Fortassin's men remain in last position, following the victory at Aurillac, but won for the first time this season away from home.
France
Rugby
