After the first block, the promoted Nice is last in the championship. The Azuréens must already react in this demanding Pro D2, otherwise they will be left behind too quickly.
Did Luca Cutayar see himself challenging Béziers or Colomiers at the Maurice-Vallot stadium when he took his first steps as a senior at the Stade Niçois? “It’s a real pride to receive them, I started in Fédérale 2, he recalls. I don’t really have the words to explain what I feel. There were barely 500 people in the stands. It warms my heart to see the stands full.” This era when the biggest club on the Côte d’Azur was Grasse does not seem so long ago, less than 1981, the year of the Nice final lost to Béziers… The bastions of rugby are now returning to the French Riviera, but with little success for the Rouge et Noir: they lost against ASBH, Soyaux-Angoulême and Columérins at home, gleaning their only success in Agen, during the second day. After a squad review, they also lost heavily at Oyonnax, 52-3. “This first block served as a lesson to us”confesses the 27-year-old center. If the Niçois have a few experienced players, like Jordan Taufua, Clément Chartier or Thibaud Rey, many elements discovered the antechamber of the elite at the end of August. “It goes faster in Pro D2, advances the Nice. The major difference is in the errors. There, they are paid with points. A forward in National, there will only be a scrum. There, on a dropped ball, we concede 40 meters, a penalty or even a try. We need to be careful about that.”
“The message is clear: better manage weak times”
The Pro D2 leaves no time for adaptation, as the Nice resident recognizes. We will have to quickly take points so as not to let ourselves be left behind in order to hope. And above all, don’t experience a season alone in last place, like Massy during the 2022-2023 financial year. We will have to start by taking points at home. In their three matches at home, the Azuréens only took one defensive bonus point, against ASBH. The fault lies in a lack of regularity over 80 minutes, Luca Cutayar does not hide it: “Against SAXV, for twenty minutes, we missed out, we chased the score, we took yellow cards and, facing a team like that, it’s hard to come back. There was a burst of pride but at the end of the match you pay physically for your periods of inferiority because the intensity is higher. It was the same against Colomiers where you controlled the first half but when you returned from the locker room, you fell asleep and you took two tries. five minutes. Mistakes are paid for in cash…”
The player trained in Saint-Laurent-du-Var confides that this week of rest between the two blocks was good for the organizations, but also in the mind. They will return to training with “a clear message: better manage weak times”. This will require more occupation, in the game in particular. With a very long next block, with six matches, we must not leave too many points on the way at home… So as not to already go to the wrong side.
