At the opening of this 7th day, Provence Rugby, led throughout almost the entire game, defeated Brive thanks to a try at the Drouet siren (23-20). Thanks to this success, the Reggiardo gang takes the lead in the championship.
We are only in October, and the Pro D2 already had the air of the final phase, in the rain of Bouches-du-Rhône, between two of its main candidates: Brive and Provence Rugby. Between these ambitious players, the show was mainly played out through a hard, rough and fierce forward game given the difficult conditions on the Aix synthetic.
At the end of a bitter battle, the Aix sun came thanks to the wing of Léo Drouet. The winger scored the winning try at the siren to allow Provence Rugby to get the better of Brive (23-20). The Corréziens were too undisciplined, notably conceding 24 penalties and receiving four warnings to hope to leave with better than a defensive bonus.
In the ranking, thanks to this success and while waiting for the next matches this Friday, Provence Rugby (20 points) takes the lead in the championship, ahead of… Brive (20 points).
Provence Rugby escaped the trap thanks to a magnificent combination
The Reggiardo gang, behind for almost the entire game, snatched their success thanks to an exceptional finish. In the last five minutes, Cazenave’s teammates scored two tries through Jammes, on a carried maul (16-20, 75th), and by Léo Drouet (23-20, 80th + 1).
During the match point, the Provençaux released a magnificent first-hand throw to surprise the CAB. On a touch at the median, Jammes threw beyond 15 meters towards Harrison. The English third line, monumental this evening, served his interior Drouet, who had placed himself in the break. The winger completed the masterpiece with a fake pass on the last defender to free Maurice-David. “It’s unexpected,” admitted Joris Cazenave to the broadcaster. “It’s a robbery. We were playing the favorite of ProD2. We had resources. This evening, we showed the state of mind of the group.”
The scrum half made no mistake. Brive had put the head of his evening opponent lower than the ground in the first act. At the end of a long observation round, where Plisson (5th) and Bosch (3-3, 9th) scored, the visitors struck on their house specialty. Zafra, in a deliberate manner, collapsed a winning maul. The Provençal second line received the double penalty (3-10, 13th). Seven minutes later, the forwards did it again. And following this hard work, in the corner, Dridi, on a good relay from Shvelidze, reaped the fruits of this work (17-3, 20th). A monumental gap in the pouring rain.
Black people came back from hell thanks to their melee
Well in the game, dominating in all areas of conquest, Brive got into difficulty almost alone. Adrien Lapègue was unable to stay on the field on a pass to the foot of Colombet. An almost winning move thanks already to a beautiful first-hand launch. Dridi, a bit teasing, pushed his opponent, creating a scuffle. The winger received a yellow card (28th). He was followed, a few minutes later, by Coria-Marchetti, who prevented, in an offside position, a ball outing (32nd).
At 13 against 15, Provence Rugby lost its teeth by persisting with forward play. In turn, advances from the Englishman Harrisson and the New Zealander Finau broke the momentum of the Blacks. Just before the break, Mikautadze was also cautioned (39th) for hanging around in a ruck in the scoring area (39th). It was still not enough for Provence Rugby, who opted for the hand penalty, while the CAB no longer had any second row on the pitch (Ratuva had left the field to bring in Kiteau). A very surprising choice, and one that could have been expensive.
Returning from the locker room, Provence Rugby rebelled in particular in the scrum with five penalties collected. By dint of suffering, Brive was reduced to numerical inferiority, Chauvac paid for the collective work (73rd). A decisive warning for Provence Rugby, which facilitated the two tries at the end of the game. The rain was there, but so was the lightning. His name: Léo Drouet. Next Friday, Provence Rugby will travel to Nièvre to challenge Nevers. The same day, Brive will host Amédée-Domenech Dax.
