At the end of a satisfactory first block completed in sixth place with 14 points, the SA XV manager then targeted the challenges of this long tunnel of six matches in which his team is engaged.
Ass between two chairs
Two matches later and before hosting Agen this Friday (7:30 p.m.) at Chanzy, the Angoumoisins are still stuck between two chairs. Fourth after beating the BO, they fell back to eighth place, returning empty-handed from Béziers last week.
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Here they are positioned at the heart of a ranking that is denser and tighter than ever, two short lengths from Colomiers which closes this coveted Top 6, and with only two days left before a saving truce.
The last will take the SA XV to the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble on November 15, one of the most formidable mountain stages of the season, even if the Angoumoisins have proven since the start of the season that they know how to travel.
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But this formidable prospect further reinforces the stakes of this Friday's meeting against Agen, on the occasion of a tenth day which will take us into the second third of the season. A victory and the Angoumoisins will settle a little more comfortably in the first half of the table. A defeat, and they will fall into the second.
Agen “doesn’t give up”
The draw remains another hypothesis, the SA forwards coach Tanguy Kerdrain at a press conference on Thursday. Implied, the four points of victory.
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A leitmotif which therefore involves success over the Agenais “in a transition project” since the arrival as manager of Sébastien Calvet, according to the Angoumois forwards coach. Which also evokes “a team that doesn’t give up, especially away from home”.
A team which has already gained seven points in five trips, which won at Mont-de-Marsan and brought back the defensive bonus from Provence, Valence and Biarritz. Before breaking down at the end of the match last week in Grenoble (37-10), where many executives had been left to rest.
Which suggests that the Agenais, who noted that the SA XV has so far only won one match in four on its land, have targeted this trip to Charente a little more. “It’s a team that will come here to try its luck,” adds Tanguy Kerdrain. “We have been warned but we want to continue at home. »
Take inspiration from the match against Biarritz
Even if the Agenais would be driven by an obvious desire for revenge after their two defeats last year (16-7 at Chanzy in December 2023, 12-23 at Armandie last April), while being the custodians of a glorious past, heavy with eight Brennus raised in the last century by some of the most prestigious names in French Rugby.
It furnishes a trophy room for you but, until proven otherwise, it has never made anyone advance in scrums or on carried balls. Biarritz and its five French championship titles can attest to this, beaten two weeks ago at Chanzy.
“When the first ten minutes go well, the stadium heats up.”
A benchmark match in several areas from which the Angoumoisins will have to draw inspiration. That day, they quickly took the score (24-3 in the 29the minute), unlike last Friday in Béziers where they were too ineffective and undisciplined in the opposing 22, “despite the number of incursions into their camp”.
Béziers, where the SA Especially when the first ten minutes go well, the stadium heats up.” To reach incandescence, like on this famous melee of the 78e minute against the BO pushed to seven in the pack and 6000 in the stands.
“The moment itself is fabulous,” relishes Tanguy Kerdrain in retrospect, who would like to see it as a source of inspiration: “In all sectors you can find that. As soon as there is an impact, we are able to turn a team around. These are the images that we must look for. »
And that Chanzy intends to see again this Friday.
