In Villefranche-de-Rouergue, rugby union is the dominant discipline. On the other hand, the XV has found its place perfectly. Undefeated after six days, Avenir Villefranchois allows itself to be ambitious.
It is a pretty town in Occitanie where rugby is played at XV and XIII. In Villefranche-de-Rouergue, in the Aveyron sub-prefecture, rugby dear to Jean Galia has a legitimate esteem reinforced with the obtaining of the national coronation in Elite 2 during the previous exercise and currently with a place in the top trio of Super XIII behind the big names that are Carcassonne and Saint-Estève XIII Catalan.
Not enough to make Avenir Villefranchois jealous, which, since 1969, has perfectly found its place in this town of 12,000 souls. In the past, he even played at the highest regional level of the former Midi-Pyrénées committee. Old-timers even remember being opposed to Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze (Fédérale 1) when the latter was in the Honor Division in the 1980s. Currently, L’Avenir (which has a team in each age category) is driven by ambition after experiencing some difficulties after emerging from the health crisis. At the start of the competition, the lights are currently green or even dark green. After six official matches, the Villefranchois have obtained victory five times with the added bonus of offensive unity. During the summit meeting in Saint-Antonin, they won 21-18.
Waiting for a first title
With a promising start, Gérald Combes’ foals are dreaming of reaching Regional 2, an objective in total conformity with the current results. “We are very satisfied with this start to the championship, especially as we are operating with a majority of young people who have come through local training, specifies the treasurer and memory of the club, Christian Capelle. In terms of recruitment, we only had five recruits. It’s low in quantity, but rich in quality.”
Thus, number 8 and ex-Grenadin Maxime Dabremont joined the club to validate his training in sports management. The fly-half Moeah Douziech, the flanker Lucas Rouzier, the Ukrainian pillar Yuri Yudkin and the center Lucas Boutonnet were seduced by the structure’s sporting project. There is only one thing missing from the Future, that of a very first title. “In fifty-five years of practice, we have lost all our finals with the seniors, whether in Challenge or in the Pyrenees championship as well as among the young people. Each time, it was by very narrow margins”adds Christian Capelle. Maybe 2025 will be that of the first coronation?
Morocco
