By ending the year with two consecutive victories, the Ain club ended a series of five losses. It remains to be confirmed.
Oyonnax ended the year 2024 on a good note, with two consecutive victories, one assured with the offensive bonus at home against Soyaux-Angoulême, the other brought from Montauban. The Ain club had not experienced such a positive sequence for more than a year, when, at the end of November 2023, in the Top 14, it disposed of Lou in Mathon before winning in Montpellier.
A full year in alternative mode is a long time and it inevitably leaves its mark on people's minds. Fabien Cibray made this observation implicitly on the evening of the duel with Soyaux-Angoulême which promised to be one of all dangers and which, under the effect of a collective renewal, was transformed into that of all the hopes: “Now a new challenge awaits us, that of consistency.”
This sequence broke another, unprecedented one, that of five losses, including two conceded at home, which ended up pushing the Ain club to the bottom of the rankings, despite being designated as the big favorite four months earlier.
The two victories lined up in December were not enough to change the reading of the ranking, as third row Hugo Hermet did not fail to point out: “We’re not going to get fired up, in the standings we’re still where we don’t want to be.” On the other hand, they made it possible to confirm what many thought of the Indinois collective, namely that it could not, in a few weeks, lose its qualities and its values. “When Oyonnax wakes up this team will be able to beat anyone. I was just afraid they would do it against us,” testified Patrick Millet, the Mons manager, on the evening of his team's victory at Mathon.
One step forward
It is still too early to say that his prediction will come true but, as it stands, it already testifies to a reality, that of the capacity of the Haut-Bugey team to emerge from what could have been a crisis fatal, through hard work and resilience. After six days, while his team remained undefeated at home, Fabien Cibray regretted seeing them advance at a tango rhythm: “Since the start of the season we have often had the feeling of taking two steps back when we took one step forward.” From tango, Oyonnax then moved on to the moon walk with, as a consequence, a fall into doubt.
To finally return to victory it was necessary to resolve the problems one by one, that of a poorly adjusted key, that of imprecise footwork, that of hesitant rugby, that also of the lack of control and the indiscipline.
To deliver a successful match that met all these requirements, for the alarm to finally ring, it took a lot of work and mental strength with, as a symbol, an improved victory against the hitherto most successful away team. . With the negative spiral broken, Oyonnax was able to trigger a new dynamic by winning in Montauban. This first away victory of the season, in the form of confirmation, bears promises that it is now up to the Ain club to keep. In this quest he will have as an asset certain rediscovered certainties, as Maëlan Rabut said after his team's victory against the Charentais: “Who dares, wins! You have to play, we did it and it all worked out”before Fabien Cibray goes further “ The players have touched on the rugby we need to move towards.”
Relaunched by its victorious double at the end of the year, Oyonnax will have the opportunity to confirm its renewal by launching the year 2025 with the reception of Aurillac and a trip to Nice. But we will have to wait for another test, on January 23, during the reception of Brive to be able to say that the Oyomen are finally back.
