Mortified by their second defeat at home, putting a damper on an alarming start to the season, the Neversois are silently uniting to prepare for the reception in Béziers with the heavy scent of combat – already – capital.
For once, the people of Nevers have taken a vow of silence. “No comment. Thank you”responds politely, but soberly, manager Xavier Péméja to the ritual request for interviews. Before developing to the millimeter: “We prefer to remain discreet.” Voluntary aphasia is the symptom of a group which is struggling with its financial situation: one victory, four defeats, including two at home, and a fifteenth place after five days at odds with the final phase objectives.
Two weeks ago, despondency mixed with disbelief in the words of the players, a few minutes after Montauban’s victory (16-13) at Pré-Fleuri. Reported to captain Rudy Derrieux, the shocking sentence pronounced a few moments earlier by Xavier Péméja, “we’re going to play it safe”had the brutality of an assumed observation: “The truth is that we are second to last. So it’s not a lie to say that we are currently playing for survival.” And the words passed as difficult as a ball of papier-mâché ambitions: “We’ve never experienced this situation. We shouldn’t necessarily panic, even if we know it’s complicated.”
Fifteenth place, the Neversois have already experienced it, almost two years ago, one evening in November, after a defeat at Mont-de-Marsan during the 12th day. The shock was then beneficial, and USON ended the season with a cannonball to fourth place, then losing in the play-offs against Vannes. The memory will undoubtedly warm the old ones and perhaps reassure the new ones, but the players know that it will not be enough to rewrite history: “We have to question ourselves”hammered flanker Luka Plataret after the defeat against Montauban. “We must honor the crest we have on the jersey.”
Conquest and attack: two major works to be put back into practice
Returning to the field last Thursday, after a short week’s vacation, the players had two major tasks to get back to work: the conquest, scuppered by the Montalbanais, and the attack, at half mast since the start of the season. Or precisely the alpha and omega of Nevers’ identity, two fatal weapons that must be urgently re-sharpened when the arrival of Béziers looms, the standard measure of combat in Pro D2 and the best defense of this championship.
Full of confidence from their current third place, formidable away from home (two victories and a defensive bonus), Pierre Caillet’s men will undoubtedly have in mind the scenario of their last trip to Nièvre, in September 2023. Leading 22- 11 in the 71st minute, they had given up a victory acquired by conceding two tries, by Cleopas Kundiona then by Shaun Reynolds after the siren (25-22). They will probably draw additional motivation from it when the people of Nevers can remember beautiful things, to relive them better. “We are capable of anythingassured Rudy Derrieux after Montauban. We know it’s not going to be easy, but maybe this fifteenth place will be a blessing in disguise.”
