The defeat in Béziers put an end to the good series of the Charentais, who must not wait to find their cruising speed, interesting until now.
It had been a few months since the SA XV had found Chanzy with a good memory in mind. Two weeks ago, the Charentais brilliantly won against Biarritz (33-22) in front of their home crowd, in a fiery atmosphere, ending a series of three matches without a victory in their lair since the start of the season. This is the hypothetical mental blockage lifted when Agen shows up there this Friday. The only problem is that Soyaux-Angoulême had the habit of returning home with big points gleaned away, where it was undefeated, and that the series also stopped. Beaten in Béziers (29-13), Alexandre Ruiz's men achieved “a non-match collectively”according to the manager. “We were prepared to respond in the fight, we didn’t do it, we didn’t show a good image of the club”regretted third row Samuel Nollet.
As against Mont-de-Marsan during the first block, the SA XV was unable to curb the enthusiasm of a team lacking points, “a wounded beast” as Alexandre Ruiz explained. The Landais remained on three defeats, Béziers had chained four. The Charentais were warned, the main thing was going to come down to aggressiveness, in collective efforts. “Mont-de-Marsan, it was already a non-match in terms of intensity. It was the fourth match of the block, like against Béziers. Is there a cause and effect relationship?” asked the manager.
What is certain is that there is no fire at the lake. The SA
“A pivotal passage”
Despite more closed last meetings, the Charentais keep their napkin ring at the top of most offensive statistics (offloads, crossings, broken tackles). After conceding twelve tries in the first five matches, they tightened the screw in defense to concede only five in the last four days. Finally, the staff takes care to carry out numerous rotations each weekend to maintain freshness and competitiveness in a second block which they already consider very important. “It’s a pivotal moment. We will have played more than a third of the championship, we will know which championship we are going to compete in, announces Alexandre Ruiz. Are we going to play for survival or rather for the top of the table?”
