the essential
The 4 Cantons-BHAP welcome a great Basque team, for a meeting that promises to be thrilling.
Still looking for a first victory, the 4 Cantons-BHAP hope, at the end of the match, to feel something other than frustration and a simple defensive bonus when returning to the locker room. “We're not far, it's going to do it”, these sentences become heavy in the heads of the players who, since the start of the season, have come very close to victory without achieving it. This seventh day, which will be played in a packed Léo Cheyrou stadium, must be the one where the “plum and white” will finally succeed in unlocking their counter. Stuck in last place in the group, the men of Lionel Girardi and Patrick Blanco will have to struggle for 80 minutes to overcome this solid team from the Basque Country from Nafarroa, currently fourth in the standings.
“Sunday, you have to win!”
The Basques, coached by Olivier Laurent, remain on a brilliant victory against Lourdes, where they scored six tries, five of which were transformed by the foot of Ibanez. Nafarroa is the game, the experience: it will not be the same team that came for a long weekend in August to do an internship at Monflanquin and play a friendly match followed by a festive evening. Sunday, in Villeréal, the “yellow and red” come with serious intentions, and the two teams are getting closer in their style of play. The Basques do not come to joke, and the 4 Cantons-BHAP must no longer focus on the past errors: whether it is a problem of discipline, defense or a missed action, the “plum and white” will this time have to be constant and precise for 80 minutes, without being surprised by opponents accustomed to long offensive sequences.
Adrien Boisserie and his teammates have all the cards in hand to respond to a team of this caliber at home. Supporters of the 4 Cantons-BHAP have been ticking off this match for a long time and are impatient to see their favorites finally return to victory. Lionel Girardi shares his feelings 48 hours before the match: “Sunday's match is crucial for the rest of our season. The equation is simple: Sunday, we have to win! For that, we will have to be even more precise in brand zone by maintaining the commitment that we make every weekend, to grow further to achieve our objective which is victory, and thus validate all the investment of this group since the start of the season. Sunday will also be the opportunity. to show the solidarity of the group by thinking of Bastien Pistore, who was injured. He is one of our leaders, and his absence will be felt that our supporters always push us a little more to give our best. and we are counting on them to give voice on Sunday and help us achieve our first success against this Nafarroa team, who will not do us any favors.” Everything is said: the fever is rising for this “XXL” match.
The group of the 4 Cantons-BHAP: Samarut, Beck, P. De Lamarlière, H. De Lamarlière, Estève, Bourgault, Coutelleau, Alpago, Ustulin, F. Niero, H. Niero, P. Boisserie, A. Boisserie, J. Pistore, V. Pistore, Nardin, Costes, Matton, Dao, Rodes, Girardi, Potet, Fuynel, Prévot, Lasvenes, Auffray.
