What if this match had been decided, not on the last action, but on the penultimate when the Palois wasted a favorable possession near the opposing posts?
This unbreathable match will have raised a lot of questions… In our eyes the last incredible action with a try refused to Ignacio Ruiz, but transformed into a penalty for a ground fault is not up for debate. The referee M.Brousset judged this complex situation with composure. Perpignan escaped on this, Pau will be able to rail against such a cruel fate.
We wanted to come back to the penultimate action which saw the Béarnais keep the ball against the Usap posts. They led 10 to 8. They wanted to run the clock at all costs. We wonder why the Palois did not try the drop. Successful, this would have allowed them to win 13 to 8. Failed, this would have forced the Catalans to play a return to 22 meters and therefore give the ball back to Sébastien Piqueronies’ men.
A gesture that has become obsolete
We also noticed that referees don’t like to see a team trying to keep the ball at pack level in the final seconds. As luck would have it, they often find something to complain about with the attacking side (if we dare say so). And Mr. Brousset did not fail to sanction the Palois six seconds from the end of the match. Bibi Biziwu makes a percussion, Beka Gorgadze, in support, goes to the ground. The law was applied in all its rigor. This is what allowed Aucagne to postpone the game in the Pau camp for the most stressful epilogue of the day.
We know that drop attempts are increasingly rare in modern rugby, because we are obsessed with possession of the ball and the hope of scoring a try on each action. The drop is often relegated to the purpose of a knife encounter. This was the case this Saturday for the Palois who could really have used this weapon considered obsolete.
