“There, yes. Yes, yes, yes, we are not going to hide our faces,” replied Loïc Credoz on Saturday when he was asked if Pau was now fighting to survive. It was even before the Stade Français, 13e and barrage before the weekend, does not close the 10e day with an improved success over Racing 92, its Parisian neighbor (40-24). Result of the races, the Béarnais recover the penultimate folding seat of the Parisians, which is worth a play-off match against the unfortunate finalist of Pro D2 to remain in the elite…
At the end of a weekend of grim memory and performance in cist lands, the Paloise Section, erratic on the Montpellier lawn on Saturday, is now three points behind the 12eLyon, four on the Perpignan duo (11e) – Stade Français (10e) and five on the MHR (10e). “It is obvious that there is an accounting emergency,” admitted Sébastien Piqueronies, something no one from Pau had dared to say before the high-risk trip to Hérault.
The editorial team advises you
The editorial team advises you
Crucial and stressful
But the slap received from the hands of the MHR and the very ugly impression left at the GGL Stadium changed the speeches, with more direct and biting remarks. “On Saturday (at 4:30 p.m. at Le Hameau, Editor's note), we host Lyon who are only three points behind us, because they didn't do better (home defeat against Clermont 22-30 Editor's note). We are going to be at a crucial moment. It's up to us to manage this week well in a stressful environment, to be in any case in two sectors (scrum and ground game, failing in Montpellier, Editor's note) at the level of the Top 14″, says the Pau manager.
For Loïc Credoz, receiving the LOU “is really going to be a turning point”. To negotiate it well before the European break, the 3e line calls for a deep rethinking: “We will have to find solutions during the week: beforehand, we must each think about our Rugby, our performance, our match preparation. Let us listen to the staff, to each other […]. It is not possible to reproduce a performance like against the MHR, with this feeling of helplessness.”
Sébastien Piqueronies hopes that this tense “life and death” context will push his men to toughen up their game and their heads. Because beyond a state of mind, essential in a collective combat sport, Pau must absolutely find the path to victory in order to collect points. The Béarnais club has not run the counter for 4 days: the last time it experienced such a long drought was in 2015-2016, the year of its rise to the Top 14…
Top 14: the Paloise Section sank into an abysmal void against the MHR
Twelfth tied with Montpellier before this 10th day, the Section Paloise completely fell through against the MHR, punished on the ground and in scrum (30-3). Worse, the Béarnais, who have a fourth loss in a row, left the offensive bonus to the Cistes in a dramatic end to the match.
The editorial team advises you
Infusion or dilution?
For four seasons, remaining in the elite has been around 45 units. The Paloise Section is therefore missing around 30 to reach this total. Which would force him, depending on his bonus harvest, to win 7 of his 16 remaining championship matches. “Worrying, it will become so if we do not respond against the LOU,” says Loïc Credoz.
With his words, Sébastien Piqueronies calls for the famous sacred union. “We need to be even more united and resilient than usual to stand up together. When it’s like that, we come together and work together, insists the Pau manager. It's the only solution we have. You have to believe strongly in what you can improve.”
Pretty much everything, based on Saturday's non-game. This time, the messages from the athlete's boss will have more time to infuse. In bubbling Pau waters, there is also a risk of seeing them diluted, as in Montpellier. Loïc Credoz is more inclined to listen to the words of the staff: “We are all aware of what is happening at the moment, at least I hope so. […] The match against Lyon starts on Monday! » The new season of the Section Paloise too.
Zoom: 0/20, a rarity
Last season, the Section Paloise had already experienced a dark series of 4 matches without a victory between December 29, 2023 and February 3, 2024, beaten in Oyonnax (34-13), by La Rochelle (20-29), in… Montpellier (22-17) and at Hameau against Castres (33-44). The only difference was that the Vert et Blanc had won a defensive bonus… in Hérault. During the 2022-2023 financial year, the Béarnais had done worse, suffering 5 consecutive losses between September 24 and October 22, 2022: at… Montpellier (43-17), against Toulon (17-34), at Racing 92 ( 26-13), against Stade Français (29-31) and finally Lyon (31-27). But here again, the Palois had won two bonuses to make the pot boil a little. Ditto the previous seasons: even when they had 6 losses in a row (October-December 2018 and 2020), or even 7 (between November 2019 and February 2020), they had always collected at least one bonus during their first four defeats of the series. The last time the Section went 4 games without picking up a single point was during the comeback season, in 2015-2016. Between April and May 2016, it lost to Toulon (9-25), to Castres (37-6), to Clermont at Hameau (10-16) and finally to Racing-Métro (43-13).
