It was thought that the Palois had repelled the first two Hérault assaults 5 meters from their line. But Papidze's guilty hand was dragging. After a video call requested by… Montpellier captain Billy Vunipola, Mr. Nuchy went to consult the screen. Yellow card for the Georgian and penalty for Coly (3-0, 5th). The beginning of a long penance for the Paloise Section, very happy to see the MHR confusing speed with haste. Taking advantage of the gross indiscipline – once again – of the Béarnais, Coly enquired (6-0 8th, 9-0 20th).
In a meeting which clearly showed the ranking of the two opponents, 11th or 12th tied, Simmonds took advantage of a brief foray to open the Pau counter (9-3, 30th). Just before the break, following a succession of grotesque errors from the visitors, the locals took off (16-9, 39th). The second half was horribly choppy, until Camara (23-10, 76th) then Duguid, at the conclusion of an improbable sequence, came to offer an unexpected offensive bonus to the Cistes, not brilliant but serious on the basic.
The dumpling: the last action
“We don’t connect brains,” snapped center Nathan Decron. One thing is certain, the Pau sons seriously affected each other in the final action of the meeting, which led to Duguid's try. In the 79th minute, Axel Desperes has a nice inspiration. On the restart, his 50-22 is superb and comes out just before the 5 meters from Hérault. The young versatile fly-half continues his effort, quickly plays the touchline, Auradou scores. Mr. Nuchy calls the video and considers that the Garlinois did not respect the mark by… a few centimeters. The Palois lose touch 5 meters away, Vincent returns the ball. The referee sanctions Montpellier.
The timer shows 79'50. Luc plays it fast, Pau doesn't move forward. But insist… for nothing because all hope is lost. Daubagna's pass is intercepted. But the Montpellier Louwrens makes the possession of a candle too long. Laporte is underneath, pretending to clear, attempts an improbable chistera at Brau-Boirie. The MHR recovers and imposes a sequence of 3 minutes, interspersed with a penalty against Pau which brings it closer to its line.
The Cist forwards pound and Duguid scores the offensive bonus try in the 80th + 4. Incredible! “We, the staff, were clearly in favor of stopping the possession and finishing at 23-3. The instructions were passed, obviously not clearly,” regretted Sébastien Piqueronies, also questioning his communication.
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Weak points: scrum and ground game
“I have the feeling of having been humiliated, I am part of a team, in my eyes humiliated in two sectors: the scrum and the ground game”, judges the Béarnais manager, without forgetting to mention the air. On the first Hérault candle, Luc misses himself. The Paloise Section is sanctioned. Montpellier pounds, Papidze takes a yellow card and Coly scores (3-0, 5th).
Three minutes later, Simmonds, in great difficulty at the GGL Stadium, was lost. He sends a forward pass. Penalty on the scrum, the first of six (!) conceded by the Green and White in this sector in great pain. Coly enquel (6-0, 8th). In the 20th minute, do it again. Béarnais forward, test of strength, penalty, Coly (9-0, 20th).
Just before the break, new slag from the visitors. On a scrum 25 meters away, Zegueur picks up, gets caught, loses the ball. A Montpellier man taps his foot, Simmonds narrowly saves. The big ones are called upon but have the ammunition scratched, just in front of their goal. Montpellier plays the penalty quickly. Kaulashvili and Daubagna sacrifice themselves in front of Chalureau. Offside in the action, Auradou takes a yellow card (39th).
In the process, the big guys from Hérault pound, Coly scores as a trickster (16-3). In the second period, the Paloise Section suffered but the MHR did not deal the blow. But like opposite, Pau achieves nothing, dispossessed in the rucks (53rd, 64th, 65th, 70th, 71st, 74th, 78th, 80th) or crushed in a scrum 5 meters from the opposing goal (54th) or 5 meters from his own (60th) on which Bibi-Biziwu takes a yellow card
The number: 3
Third team to receive the most yellow cards before this 10th day, the Section Paloise took three more in Montpellier, as in Clermont at the opening of the season (39-7). Papidze (5th), Auradou (39th) and Bibi-Biziwu (60th) went to sit on the bench for ten minutes. During these 30 minutes outnumbered, the Green and White conceded 13 points. With 17 penalties conceded, the Béarnais once again sinned through indiscipline.
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The observation: Pau is no longer there
Pau went to Soustons for three days to work on his game last week. With this fourth defeat in a row in the Top 14 and its scenario, we have to believe that it was not enough… In the 8th minute, Simmonds is lost. Twelve minutes later, it goes ahead on the first pass after touch… In the 25th minute, Maddocks screens a kick recovered by Desperes and… goes out on concussion protocol. Just before halftime, Simmonds was shaken by Cadot. As soon as the restart, Ruffenach makes a throw into touch… directly into Montpellier's hands (42nd).
In the last ten minutes, the Section, uninspired but at least determined until then, cracks in great strides. Camara escapes as if on parade in the axis of a ruck (23-3, 76th). Until this final action in the 84th minute… Lifeless, without ideas, amorphous, lethargic, Pau sent no good signal.
Worse, it seems that not everyone is aligned: “That means that I don’t have to speak the same language as my players,” confided Sébastien Piqueronies when commenting on his men’s last sequence. “We must listen to each other, do our job, have a group of leaders and a few little soldiers on the side. And work collectively, clearly,” adds Loïc Credoz.
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The tiles: still injured?
Sébastien Piqueronies revealed after the meeting that five Pau players had been “impacted”. But “rugby hurts everyone,” the manager then evaded. We will see the seriousness of the injuries on Monday.” Passive, the Palois suffered all the impacts and often remained on the ground. In addition to Maddocks, who did not return from his concussion protocol, Picquette and Daubagna seemed affected when they left the field.
