Still without an away victory this season, Pau travels to Toulon this Saturday in the Top 14. A huge challenge which recalls the difficulty that the Béarnais have in setting up their game far from their base.
There is something simpler, much simpler than a trip to Toulon to try to score a first success of the season away from home. However, this is the challenge that the Pau Section is preparing to take on this Saturday. The Béarnaise team is behind on points outside before going to the harbor. Antepenultimate in the ranking of visiting teams this season in Top 14, Pau has several arguments which explain its bankruptcy far from its bases.
A sleeping attack
At home, the Section has the fifth attack in the Top 14. With enormous offensive assets like the former top scorer in the Top 14 Emilien Gailleton, the elegant Jack Maddocks or crazy crocheters Théo Attissogbe and Aymeric Luc, it was a safe bet that Pau would also have good stats lines outside… Well, it’s quite the opposite. With only ten points scored on average away from their base, the Palois have the worst attack in the Top 14 away from home. On the pitches of UBB and Montpellier (the last two trips in the championship), the Green and White were unable to score a single try.
A key problem, which is the consequence of several things, as Sébastien Piqueronies indicates: “Away, we have few scoring opportunities. We have two things to rectify: create more opportunities and be more realistic. The Racing 92 match showed me, however, that we know how to create situations. Except for the match in Perpignan, we were often clearly dominated away. Overall, we are struggling to play high and we are suffering from the occupation of the pitch. There is also the commitment which is not always the same as that which we have at home.”
The commitment made in default
By mentioning commitment, Piqueronies raised another point: would the Palois be more motivated at home than away? Not necessarily. However, it seems that they can drop off much more quickly when the match gets away from them. This can be seen in the statistics, since in the five matches played by Pau away (Clermont, La Rochelle, Perpignan, UBB, Montpellier), it is only at Marcel-Deflandre that the Béarnais club scored goals. points in the second half!
An edifying figure. “It is difficult to isolate a technical problem as the emotional environment and commitment take priority, Piqueronies analysis. In Montpellier for example, the team did not show strong conviction. For the Section to be able to export itself to the Top 14, it must demonstrate a foolproof state of mind. That’s the priority.”
An infirmary still full
Lack of commitment can also be explained by fatigue. While the injured pile up in the infirmary (Attissogbe, Carol, Capelli, Franklin, Gorgadze, Jolmès, Kaulashvili, Klemenczak, Laporte, Maximin, Parrou, Pelesasa, Rey, Robson, Tokolahi, Whitelock, Williams), certain players like Joe Simmonds, Sacha Zegueur, Thibault Daubagna, Nathan Decron or Loïc Credoz continue the matches.
Even if it is not excessive, many executives may feel fatigue linked to the accumulation of matches and lose performance. Returns from injuries are therefore greatly expected in Béarn, even if that will not be the case this weekend, against Toulon. Already several years ago, lack of consistency was a weak point for Pauwith many difficulties outside. This season, the problem persists and as Piqueronies breathes: “The Section is a bit two-faced.”
