This Friday evening, the Charentais go to Aguiléra to face Biarritz (7 p.m.) and try to kick off their year. Riding on an enticing first part of the season, the SA XV will have to face a strong start to 2025, with a series of eight matches of very high adversity.
Fasten your seat belts, put away your glasses: the big 8 is about to begin! In the series of matches that the Violets are preparing to begin this weekend, there is some very heavy stuff on display. Biarritz first, eighth with five penalty points and contender for good places, for this 16th day. Afterwards ? Almost only residents of the top 6! The receptions in Béziers (3rd) then Dax (6th) will close the first month of the year before the sequence of trips to Brive (2nd) then to Provence (4th) interspersed with receptions in Colomiers (10th) and Aurillac (12th) . A very busy third block which will end at the beginning of March with the reception of the Grenoble monster. We told you, it’s going to shake up.
A hellish series which, ultimately, will determine what Didier Pitcho’s protégés can envisage in the spring. However, faced with this icy schedule, there is no panic in the Angoumois ranks which have shown their capacity for action and reaction on several occasions and in all contexts. “We are going to play it in a block of 3 first in January, then five matches then in February – early Marchconfides Alexandre Ruiz, manager of the SA XV. It’s important for us to do things in order. Last year, the players alerted us to the fact that we were seeing too far. I remember Ben Botica telling us: “Step by step, planning so much today doesn’t suit us.”“
-A decisive double reception
The Ruiz-Kerdrain-Lafforgue trio knows that this turn is crucial in the season. The analysts are overwhelmed with work to decipher each of the opponents of this bloc, to unearth the faults, and to identify the strengths of those who will form the opposition. Beyond this inauguration of 2025 in Biarritz, the double reception (Béziers then Dax) is very important, while the residents of Chanzy are the 13th team in the championship at home (2.85 points per match on average, only Nevers, Valence-Romans and Nice do worse).
Despite this surprising and deserved start to the season, Soyaux-Angoulême knows where it comes from and is well aware that its championship is the one at the bottom. “It would be a lie to say that we don’t apprehend it, because new things are always scarycontinues the former referee. And this place is new for us. But we have not agreed with the players to qualify. We do not have this urgent need like other training courses may have. We are just driven by the desire to believe in it now that we are there and to fight every day to keep our place. If we come out of the top 6, it won’t be a failure. On the other hand, if we come close to the descent or the play-off match, there, however, it will be.”
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