Pro D2 – Nevers does it again in Brive

Would USON like to play every week against Brive? “Outside maybe yes, laughs the Nevers manager, Xavier Péméja. There are teams that succeed for us, that’s how it is, but rest assured there are also teams that don’t succeed for us.” Because yes, the Nièvre players once again brought down Brive at the Stadium. Better, since Brive's return to Pro D2, the Nivernais have won their four meetings against the Corréziens!

The recipe? The druid Xavier Péméja obviously knows it well. “We knew that it was a very strong team in terms of fundamentals (throws, carried balls, scrum). We had to fight because we knew that the Brivists kept up the effort for 80 minutes. As soon as they can accelerate, They do it. We had nothing to lose, we had to give it our all, and we had to have a big match in these sectors to hope for something here.”says second line Ugo Vignolles, at the forefront of the fight on the ground and in the air.

“Heroic” forwards

Recipe followed perfectly since the players of the Péméja-Fouassier-Jan trio lost no scrum and only two touches over the entire game. “Our forward pack was heroic, greet the manager. It had character, everything we love. The team didn't give up from start to finish.” “Since the start of the season, we had snatches of quality matches, then afterwards we let go, continues Vignolles. We had to last 80 minutes, and then we would see the result. Tonight, it’s really a state of mind that we wanted to show.” A flawless state of mind which allowed the USON players not to crack despite a 19-0 conceded between the 22nd and the 50th minute and which made it possible to achieve a feat after the siren, at the end of one last completely crazy action! “There's a lot going on in our heads in the last few minutes, smiles center Noa Pommelet. We tell ourselves that we have done the job, that we still have 1 minute 30 to go, that we must take the penalty. In the end, the referees watch the video. We come back to a scrum for us. So there we say to ourselves that there is one last chance left. We find all the means to move forward. Shaun (Reynolds) attempts a drop which unfortunately does not pass. Brive makes a mistake and gives us the penalty for winning. It was really a mix of all the emotions.” Xavier Péméja takes another look, that of the coach: “I was afraid, because we have to hit the drop earlier. The 10 gets into position, but the 9 doesn't know it. We have to work on it because we have very little control over this last action. comes out well because they go out of play, but the drop doesn't pass. It's a problem of control and experience.” Nevers still has room for improvement, but with this heart, Uson has bright days ahead of it.