This season, each block of Pro D2 will be analyzed by a technician who is particularly fond of this championship. This week, it’s Pierre-Philippe Lafond, former manager of Montauban, who passed through Montpellier who gives his first impressions. The coach places Soyaux-Angoulême among the good surprises of this 2024-2025 financial year and sees the BO continuing its momentum!
The championship got off to a flying start with no less than 15 away victories in five days. A first block that is surprising to say the least?
A first hyper-competitive block! Everyone can beat everyone. Everyone can win at everyone. There is no more home, no more outside. Soyaux-Angoulême is the perfect example. They don’t win a single match at home but they will win three times away. There were matches which suggested a really interesting level of competition despite the fact that we are only at the start of the season. Once again, this championship is becoming more and more homogeneous…
Biarritz and Colomiers are at the top of the ranking. At first glance, these aren’t really what we expected…
I want to say that for the BO it could be seen coming. They made the best recruitment in Pro D2 with Brive. It’s true but I think that Biarritz is on the momentum of its off-season with the new dynamic driven by management, recruitment and the objective of putting the BO back at the top of the table, of becoming a strong Pro D2 team again and even maybe better. Regarding Colomiers… Very targeted recruitment with a good off-season. They were ready, they are already in place.
How do you explain the start of the season for Oyonnax, freshly relegated?
First of all, a descent is never trivial. Then, Oyonnax is a very structured club, I don’t worry about them. There haven’t been many changes in the staff. Recruitment was interesting. A player like Domingo Miotti was replaced by Zack Holmes. There is an adaptation time for the entire team. It’s a little delay in ignition but it’s not worrying. For its part, Provence Rugby also struggled at the start of the championship. Oyonnax has not yet found his reference match but it will come.
On the contrary, do you think that it makes us worry about Nevers, 15th with only one victory on this block?
Unfortunately, Nevers saw qualification slip away in the final minutes last season. There is the end of a cycle with very good players who have left. I am thinking of Christian Ambadiang who left for Castres or even Christiaan Van der Merwe who signed for Vannes. They lost important players. We must also not forget that USON had a very complicated schedule on this block. The season is still long and I think that for them, nothing is decided. They have the weapons to join the race in the first part of the table.
Do the Nice graduates have reason to believe it?
Stade Niçois already has three defeats at home. They went to win in Agen, it’s a great performance but in a particular context (day of the poignant tribute to Medhi Narjissi, young player swept away by the waves in South Africa Editor’s note). They will have to get up to the level of Pro D2 otherwise I think they will have to settle for last place. I think this is the only worry in this first block. Last season, Dax knew how to react. It’s a man’s story most of the time. Nice has quality players and can reverse the trend.
Aren’t Soyaux-Angoulême and Montauban the good surprises of this start of the championship?
Yes. What is almost a shame for Soyaux-Angoulême is that they blew hot and cold. Three away wins is phenomenal but at home so far it hasn’t happened. But honestly it’s a team that knew how to react at the right time and showed a lot of character and resources. Soyaux-Angoulême will join the fight for the top 6. Montauban also showed good things by winning in particular in Nevers.
What should we expect from the next block?
I think that the next block of six matches will help to resolve the situation a little. We will see more clearly on the teams which have the ambition to play for the top 6 and those which will be located at the bottom of the table. For the moment, even teams who have had up-and-down results can still aim to move up the rankings. There are still around ten teams that can aim for the first six places in the championship. There have been some signs for qualification but nothing is prohibitive at the moment.
The coach’s assessments
The most impressive team in this 1st block?
Biarritz.
The team with the most potential?
Brive.
The most surprising team in this first block?
Soyaux-Angoulême.
A player to remember?
Ugo Pacome and Kyllian Ringuet.
A match to remember?
Béziers – Biarritz, second day.
The team you should be wary of on the 2nd block?
Oyonnax.
Coach news
It’s been four months since a page turned for Pierre-Philippe Lafond. Since the end of his adventure at Montauban, where he was replaced by Sébastien Tillous-Borde in the off-season, the coach has optimized this period away from the field. The former pillar therefore embarked on a DU OHPCO (optimization of collective high performance) in Dijon. “PP” Lafond also wants to draw inspiration from the highest level by visiting the infrastructures of different Top 14 clubs such as La Rochelle, Toulon and Racing 92. “The daily life of a manager means that you don’t necessarily have time to develop certain ideas. I really take advantage of this time to do things that I don’t have time to do when I’m in a project. I I’m still in contact with rugby since I watch the Top 14, the Pro D2 and even the National” explains the coach.
