« In the absence of the Top 14, it will be a bit of a Pro D2 party,” says Eric Bayle. Like the National Rugby League, the rugby editorial director of Canal + was convinced by the arguments of the management of the US Dax, which has been carrying out the project to relocate the Landes derby for more than a year. Despite the veto of a fringe of its supporters, its staff and its town hall, the club of the thermal city is on the verge of succeeding in its marketing bet in Jean-Dauger (nearly 11,000 places reserved out of 13,500, according to the figures communicated Friday, November 15, in the morning).
From the Landes prefecture, this Dacquois choice is seen as a small bonus. It’s the prospect of a “festival of rugby above all, savors the yellow and black manager Patrick Milhet. Being able to take young people to a 4:30 p.m. match, rugby schools, educators, it’s a reward. »
Of the stake and the game
And on a sporting level, the prospect is enticing: a large audience, “a pleasant pitch and surface: it’s going to get the game going,” announces Montois second row Romain Durand, with fond memories of a victory at Jean-Dauger against Aviron Bayonnais (14-33), November 5, 2021. A match remembered by Dacquois manager Jeff Dubois, then on the Bayon bench alongside Yannick Bru: “That’s what I put in the balance purely sporting pros and cons of this relocation. I know that the Montois know this stadium well and have won there…”
Indeed, for Stade Montois, there is room to polish the “away match” facets of this derby. But from there to say that it is a meeting on neutral ground? ” No. But why not consider that it’s a final phase match,” says Patrick Milhet. It will not be, at least for the Dacquois, a reception.
US Dax manager Jean-Frédéric Dubois during the Dacquoise setup at the Jean-Dauger stadium, this Friday.
P. L.
“We can compete, but…”
Considering the two previous derbies, won by the red and white, the terrain would not matter, unlike the temporality of this 11e day: the end of a very mixed block (nine points in five matches) a week after a heavy setback in Béziers (50-17), changes the situation. The prospect of a second “home” defeat too, after that against the SA XV (8-16). “What scares me,” explains Jeff Dubois, “is how are we going to approach the event? Sportingly, I know that we can compete but afterwards, there is the apprehension of an almost full stadium, the reaction of the players…”
It's difficult for them to mask their excitement when it comes to planning ahead. The change of scenery would be good to take: “Everyone manages it as they wish. I know that I like to take advantage of it,” says winger Théo Gatelier.
He and his partners got their bearings all morning this Friday, November 15 on the field, for a set-up, and in the “very beautiful locker rooms” of Rowing, equipped with a swimming pool where the water is “a not very fresh.” For them, it will be a question of avoiding cold showers.
