Top 14. UBB will have to fight to the end for a play-off at home

IThere wasn’t much missing, but this time it’s done. Union Bordeaux-Bègles is officially qualified for the final stages of the Top 14. And this, for the fourth consecutive year. By beating Clermont (52-10) this Sunday, Toulon won its qualification and at the same time ensured that of the Gironde club one day before the end of the regular season. But after their defeat on the field of Perpignan (37-30) on Saturday, the Bordelais slipped to 4^e place, leaving the 3^e at the RCT. They remain under pressure in relation to their objective of playing a play-off at home and will have to fight until the end, that is to say the reception of Oyonnax next Saturday (9:05 p.m.) in Chaban-Delmas.

“The ambition was to come and take points, at least one, in Perpignan, to give ourselves a little margin in the choices, in the management of freshness for the last match of the regular season in Chaban, confided Saturday Yannick Bru , the Girondin manager. This zero point puts the brakes on all positive plans. We are going to approach the last meeting with a capital mission: that of playing a very big match and possibly getting the offensive bonus.”

Following the draw between La Rochelle and Toulouse (31-31) this Sunday evening, the offensive bonus against Oyonnax is not essential for the Bordelais. If not for confidence. A simple victory would be enough for Yannick Bru’s men to keep 4^e place and offer yourself a barrage against the 6^e. The UBB therefore still has its destiny in its hands.

On the other hand, to return to 3^e Instead, she will have to win against Oyonnax and at the same time count on a misstep from Toulon on the Stade Français pitch. In this scenario, the offensive bonus against Oyonnax would be necessary if the RCT manages to take a point in Paris.

Faced with Oyonnax, a red lantern already relegated to Pro D2 who has nothing more to hope for in this last match except to come out with honors, the mission is obviously within reach of the Bordelais. But the latter must now truly move towards the final stages by living up to their ambitions.

Questioning

“There’s no point in going to the final phase if it’s to play matches like that,” cursed Maxime Lucu, the UBB scrum half, at the Rugby + microphone, after the setback at Aimé-Giral . “We have a big squad and we had a good season but there were also matches where we missed a lot. The Top 14 is very tough, we know that. We lacked everything here. The squad does not win matches. You have to shut up and work. » Yannick Bru said nothing else: “Everyone sees us as beautiful… But the reality is that in difficult times, we lack consistency. We are struggling to raise the bar on commitment and solidarity. »

“We have often achieved good performances when we were walking on the edge of the void. We need to be under pressure, we are going to be”

Because of this lack of regularity, UBB found its back against the wall several times this season, like its matches against Toulouse, against La Rochelle or Bayonne. It will be once again against Oyonnax next Saturday with regard to the objective of the play-off at home. “We often achieved good performances when we were walking on the edge of the void,” recalls Yannick Bru. We need to be under pressure, we are going to be. We need to bring in players. Some injured people in particular up front (Poirot, Kaulashvili, Coleman, Bochaton) will do us a lot of good. We didn’t want to take any risks in Perpignan but we saw that we missed some.”

At this stage of the season, no more booster shots. “We had already received one against Paris,” recalled Damian Penaud, the Girondin winger, on Saturday at the microphone of Canal +. We’re not going to have it every week because otherwise, the season will be shortened and that’s not what we want. We’ll have to put our heads back together, go to work and we’ll see what happens next…”