Lieu Agen (stade Alfred-Armandie). Spectators 7 384. Arbitrator Mathieu Noirot (Occitanie). Half time 3-18.
YOUR AGEN 2 tries from Etcheverry (47th), Bonnet (72nd); 1 transformation from Pourteau (72nd); 2 penalties from Searle (17th), Pourteau (58th).
The team: Darchen (Searle, 70e) – Tolot, Ramoka (Muscarditz, 41e), Garrigues, Etcheverry – (o) Searle (Pourteau, 41e), (m) Maunder (Bellot, 41e) – Gayraud (Lokotui, 70e), Lokotui (Bonnet , 55e), Lebian (cap.) – Demotte (Olmstead, 54e), Farré (Demotte, 71e) – Macharashvili (Farrance, 55e), Socino (Jouvin, 69e), Lombard-Buret (Mstoiani, 55e).
US MONTAUBAN 3 tries from Renda (5th), Jackson (38th, 67th); 2 transformations (38th, 67th), 1 drop (15th) and 1 penalty (30th) from Bosviel.
The team: Mouchous – Ahmed (Fonnicola, 72nd), Jackson, Renda, Vici (Ahmed, 76th) – (o) Bosviel, (m) Powell (Zabalza, 54th) – Quercy (cap.) (Ringuet, 54th), Coularis (Notshe, 54th), Kanika-Bilonda – Moreaux (Bean, 48th), Bradshaw-Ryan – Azariashvili (Tuimauga, 48th), Maurouard (Greyling, 54th), Seyrolle (Vanaï, 54th).
SÉbastien Calvet had made an appointment: “It’s Thursday evening that we will take stock of the first third of the championship. » With a third defeat in a row (18-25) after the setbacks in Grenoble (37-10) and Angoulême (30-29), manager Agenais is fixed: this second block is a failure. With only 10 points collected instead of the 15 targeted, the SUA will find itself dropped from the top 6 at the end of this 11e daytime. Should he already lower his objectives and give up on qualification? What Julien Lebian’s partners showed this Thursday evening, against a team which only owes its place in Pro D2 to a penalty Pourteau missed with Rouen last season, they clearly do not have the shoulders to aim better than a “soft stomach”.
This “pivotal” match was to tip the club of eight Brennus towards the contenders for the final stages or the candidates for maintenance. As Sébastien Calvet had argued during the week, the SUA will have to return to “the medium objective which is to have a good season, to revolve around the 8e place and stabilize the project. Not a very sexy outlook. But the Agenais will above all have to recover from this big slap. By suffering their second home defeat of the season (after Nice, 12-16) and especially their third consecutive setback in this derby in Armandie, they fell from very high. Especially since this snub this time was not due to a drop from Bosviel at the last minute like last season (10-12).
Two assassin counters
The message from the Aginnum members was however clear at kick-off: “A derby can be won. » But the Agenais scuttled themselves in the first period (3-18) by conceding two counterattacks at the start and end of the half. The first, initiated by Bosviel from his own 30 meters, was concluded from the 5e minute by Renda. The center on loan from Stade Toulousain – once expected at the SUA – had benefited from a breakthrough from his full-back Mouchous and a chistera from his Fijian flying winger Vivi. With already the fifth drop of the season from its opener, the Montalbanais were rewarded with a perfectly controlled first quarter of an hour (0-8, 15e). The tone was already set. The bill could even have been heavier if Etcheverry had not turned his opposite number Ahmed on the corner post (18e).
“This snub this time was not due to a drop from Bosviel at the last minute like last season”
“We looked at them at the start of the match and we wanted to overplay in our camp,” complains manager Sébastien Calvet. A breakthrough from Searle finally allowed the SUA to enter this match and the 22 visitors. But Demotte in turn returned to the in-goal area (20e). With a penalty from the Bosviel metronome (30e) to respond to Searle (17e), the disbursement of 8 points was still relevant (3-11) until a new counter initiated from his 22 this time by Ahmed. The winger adjusted a kick for himself over Etcheverry and offered the try to his friend in the center Jackson (38e). The USM thus made the splits before the break (3-18) and was rewarded with an almost one-sided first period where it had to maintain the pressure on the Agenais in their half of the field.
A cold shower
Faced with a team which had only returned three starters from the last success against Nice (34-30), Sébastien Calvet’s men seemed without a solution. “Montauban is a team that is playing with a form of mental freshness this season and with a lot of appetite,” warned the Agen manager. To deal with this, he brought fresh blood from the restart into his three-quarter line by changing his hinge and launching Muscarditz in the center. Coaching paid off since Pourteau adjusted a crossbar for Etcheverry who managed to score in the corner despite Mouchous (8-18, 47e). The derby was restarted and Armandie’s whistles at the break were already forgotten.
As Bosviel could no longer find his sights (50e) and Pourteau converted his first penalty (58e), the SUA could once again believe in its lucky star (11-18). But the Montalbanais once again damaged Armandie less than ten minutes later following a ball spoiled by Darchen. Ringuet took advantage and two minutes later Jackson scored twice (11-25, 67e). Following a penalty, Bonnet’s strong try – on his first ball – allowed the SUA to still hope to secure a draw (18-25, 72e). The Montalbanais did not let their third away victory of the season slip away (after Valence-Romans and Nevers) to establish themselves alone at the top of the Pro D2. The cold shower for the Agenais.
