Trailing for a long time, the Parisians managed to escape from the trap set by the MHR who came to attack the capital. Laurent Labit’s men won (29-20) but were scared after a hectic week behind the scenes.
It’s a journalistic cliché but the first minutes seemed to confirm it, the stakes took precedence over the game in this meeting between two clubs lacking results. And Stade Français, which had even less room for error than its host from Hérault, seemed even more affected by fear at the start of the match against a realistic MHR.
But Paris was able to remobilize after returning from the locker room to achieve a highly important 29-20 victory against Montpellier. But it was hard and painful for Parisians who initially failed in almost everything they undertook to begin with. Their luck, having encountered a realistic Montpellier team at first but also suffering because the bill could have been steeper in better conditions. And Paris knew how to react on its lawn.
Paris misses, Montpellier scores
The first minutes of the match were clearly Montpellier with a Stade Français unable to make use of its balls against an opponent who did not ask for so much and above all wanted to collect points as much as possible at the slightest opportunity. Thomas Vincent at 50m opened the score from the start (3rd, 0-3) and doubled the lead a few minutes later after an almost flattened try (9th, 0-6) not even trying to insist a little in the 22m players in pink. Before the quarter of an hour of play, Thomas Vincent even narrowly missed repeating a long winning kick (more than 50m) by failing a few centimeters under the bar. Opposite Paris did not achieve much and even approaching the 22m line of the MHR was complicated. It was only shortly before the half-hour mark that Zack Henry, preferred to Louis Carbonel, unlocked the local counter (28th, 3-6)
The MHR’s try in the 32nd minute of play was symptomatic of the Parisian woes. While they had the ball on their 40m, a missed Weber – Henry combination at the end of the scrum offered a counter to the Héraultais who still had to count on two hand faults from Paris to flatten the try by Simmonds. House gift (32nd, 3-13). Zack Henry immediately brought his team back with a penalty offered by the MHR on the kick-off (33rd, 6-13) and the two scorers missed an opportunity to come back/escape before the break.
Another Stade Français, another MHR
The words of Laurent Labit or a simple observation of circumstances would change everything upon returning from the locker room? Or was it also the immediate entry of Louis Carbonel in place of Zack Henry at the opening? Probably a mixture of all of these. Stade Français took matters into their own hands immediately and no longer left possession to their opponent who was once too happy with the windfall. From the 46th minute, Paris came back to the level thanks to a good first-hand try following a touch at the halfway line. Repeated with Carbonel, a breakthrough line and a precise serve for Dakuwaqa and Paris finally entered its meeting in front of its audience (13-13). While Carbonel put his team in the lead for the first time in the match (53rd, 16-13), another entrant offered a release to 2nd in last season’s standings. Sekou Macalou took advantage of a blocked foot pass from Weber after an interception on the opponent’s sideline to try as a winger (57th, 23-13).
Montpellier returned to business timidly at the end of the match with a second try signed George Bridge after a strong moment in the 22m of Paris concluded wide (71st) but Carbonel before then after, with his perfect footwork (67th, 74th), maintained the gap to offer a few serene last minutes at Stade Français (29-20). A victory which does not erase everything for Paris, far from it, but which will allow us to start this new era on a healthier basis. Paris has bought time, a luxury that Montpellier no longer really has after 5 days.
Related News :