End of the dream of a return to the Top 14 for the Brivistes, beaten 33-31 in the play-off match on Friday evening in Béziers, while they seemed to have the upper hand for a large part of the match.
“Aqui es Besiers”, the heartfelt cry of the Bitérois ended up getting the Brivistes drunk. During an interminable sequence of play in the 75th minute, while the CAB was still in front, ninety meters back in numerical inferiority, Nkinsi flattened the winning attempt. Shvelidze’s latest breakthrough at the mermaid changes nothing: goodbye calves, Vannes, pigs… No semi-final in Brittany, and a lot of regrets:
In three months, I think we have progressed and that we deserved to win tonight. In this meeting, we dominated in the scrum. Unfortunately, we learn from defeat.
Pierre-Henry BroncanCAB sports manager
A lesson in front of 16,000 excited spectators. The first period is tense. Marques, the ex of CAB, and Raffy compete in precision against the poles… In the 31st, Pauta scores in the corner: 13-9 for the locals.
But five minutes later, Carbonneau’s clever little kick was picked up by Bonneval. White & Black take the score. Advantage confirmed at the break thanks to a nice drop from Raffy… 16-19, it’s tough!
We wanted to show our true colors, and I think that this evening, we won a match against a very strong Brive team.
Samuel MarquesASBH scrum-half
“I’ll say it again, but I think it’s really a very strong team. I think it’s one of the matches that hit the hardest so tonight, we’re obviously very happy”, continues the ASBH scrum-half.
Returning from the locker room, the inevitable Pauta hurts the Corrèze defense, and Plazy just has to finish. The meeting gets carried away, everyone plays with their weapons, speed for Béziers, power for Brive. Raffy takes the penalties and allows his team to lead 26-31. Not enough, as we have seen, but not in vain either.
Léo Carbonneau, CAB scrum-half, already seems to be looking ahead: “We will come back stronger next year, I hope so. We will do everything to, hoping that next year it will be us who receive either a play-off or a semi-final because we see that when we play outside, it’s more complicated compared to the public.”
If the shot came so close, the Brivists were starting too far this season. The next one is already full of promise.
