A shock from the start. For the first match of the season in Pro D2, Brive hosts Oyonnax in a duel that promises to be mouth-watering. For his first at home, Courtney Lawes starts in the second row.
The Pro D2 is back! And with a duel of contenders for promotion. For the first match of the season, Brive hosts the relegated Top 14, Oyonnax. The Coujous, who recruited some big names in the off-season, including Courtney Lawes, will want to make a good impression for their first at the Amédée-Domenech stadium.
For this, Pierre-Henri Broncan’s men have brought out the big guns for the championship curtain raiser. No fewer than five recruits are lined up from the start, including Courtney Lawes in the second row, accompanied by Sitaleki Timani. Simon-Pierre Chauvac, Curwin Bosch, Erwan Dridi and Timilai Rokoduru will also make their official debuts in the Brive jersey.
?????????? \ud83d\udff0 \ud83d\udcaf%
Check out the ?? ??????? lined up to kick off the 2024/2025 season \ud83d\udd25\u26ab\ufe0f\u26aa\ufe0f
Come on, let’s give strength to our ???? & ????? \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udcac pic.twitter.com/iw9gg9FY0M
— CA Brive Rugby (@CABCLRUGBY) https://twitter.com/CABCLRUGBY/status/1828827509305315587?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Brive’s starting XV : 15. Krone; 14. Ferté, 13. Rokoduru, 12. Johnson, 11. Dridi; 10. Bosch, 9. Carbonneau (cap.); 7. Moriarty, 8. Sadrugu, 6. Marsh; 5. Timani, 4. Lawes; 3. van der Merwe, 2. Da Silva, 1. Chauvac.
Replacements : 16. Boudou, 17. Fraissenon, 18. Mikautadze, 19. Usarraga, 20. Gué, 21. Verdu, 22. Olding, 23. Coria Marchetti.
A Lobzhanidze-Holmes hinge
On the Oyomen side, the ambition is obviously to return to the elite as quickly as possible. If the coaches’ poll placed them as the favorites of the seasonthe first meeting will be an opportunity to situate them on the field. Joe El-Abd has chosen to keep a similar structure to that of last year, only aligning three new players from the start: Peniami Narisia, Zack Holmes and Karim Qadiri.
The starting XV of Oyonnax : 15. Bouraux ; 14. Salles, 13. Farrell, 12. Mensa, 11. Qadiri ; 10. Holmes, 9. Lobzhanidze ; 7. Hermet, 8. Godener, 6. Lebreton (cap.) ; 5. Fabregue, 4. Battye ; 3. Oz, 2. Narisia, 1. Abraham.
Replacements : 16. Durand, 17. Kebble, 18. Leindekar, 19. Miquel, 20. David, 21. Grice, 22. Sawailau, 23. Tafili.
The kick-off of the match, and therefore of this new Pro D2 season, is scheduled for this Thursday, August 29, at 9 p.m.
