Rugby Union – Top 14: Tristan Tedder a season at the top with USAP

After the glorious end of the USAP season, maintained in the Top 14 with the way, difficult to bring out a personality. However, at the time of the balance sheets, it is Tristan Tedder who wins, for this season 2022-2023, the Golden Oval of the Independent for the Top 14. For his second and last season in Perpignan, the he South African opener and fullback has had an exceptional season. It’s very simple, he finished best director (191 points) and best try scorer of the team. And even if he was a little less efficient on Saturday evening, with 10 missed points at the foot and a few bad choices, he was still very much at the top throughout the season.

He had also attacked the season with a bang by scoring the first try of the season, during the inaugural day, in Pau, after an interception and a 70m try. The tone was set for what followed. And for many months, when the USAP was shaky, it was he who carried it on his shoulders. 14 of 19 points scored against Toulon for the first victory of the season, 9 of 14 scored the following week against Castres. Statistics in absolute value not always extraordinary, but significant regularity at the right time.

The back that made Jaminet forget

Above all, the whole start of the season, Tristan Tedder has been the leader of the game. Introverted in life, but incredibly surly and willful on the pitch, he tried to push things behind when things weren’t going too well yet. for the team. But it was in October, during the trip to Bayonne on the 8th day that the tipping point took place. Seeking to create new dynamics, the staff had tried to play Jake McIntyre, the second opener in the group, at the back. The defeat prompted them to test the reverse association. Selfless Tedder agreed to step back in 15, so the Aussie could return to his favored position. That’s when the light came on. And if this did not have a direct consequence in terms of results, it was the long-awaited click on the side of the collective game.

From then on, Tristan Tedder became fullback. The much sought-after replacement for Melvyn Jaminet. He was also sorely missed, at the beginning of winter, during the USAP black series. Released from the first minute of play against Montpellier, two days before Christmas, knocked out. on an involuntary contact with the winger of Montpellier, he missed the three matches (Montpellier, La Rochelle and Clermont), all lost, which hurt USAP very badly. But when he returned, he weighed in. Against the Stade Français, he found the rhythm and had the humility and the lucidity to leave the foot to McIntyre, to concentrate on his game. And under a raging tramontane, he played the role of luxury adviser and assistant to hold the ball. Precious, capital, for the first of a long series of “death” matches. The following week, he took over the goal at the end of the match, to offer, in the 76^e minute against Brive, the transformation wins. But it was during the following day that he definitely took over the keys to the game. He achieved a masterpiece against Pau with 25 points scored, including two tries, even missing the hat-trick by a fraction. A benchmark match that set the tone for the end of the season.

Head to Racing 92

A match that also sealed his future, no doubt. For several months, the USAP had resigned itself to losing its best player. In the fall, the leaders tried to extend an out-of-contract Tristan Tedder. He was offered the biggest salary at the club. But Perpignan’s budget is what it is. And it’s difficult to compete with the biggest teams in the Top 14. Racing 92 won the day. Tedder will replace Finn Russell next season. A challenge worthy of his talent.

Saturday evening, after the victory against Grenoble, Tedder had tender words for Patrick Acebes and for the club which made him evolve, grow, and become the excellent player he is today. And he was also able to project himself on his return to Aimé-Giral next year in his new colors. “I am scared (smiles). I know the vibe now. I’m very happy that Perpignan stays in the Top 14. I can’t wait to come back to Perpignan, but with another shirt, it will be something else. We will have to take it.”