The heavy defeat in Toulon reinforced the Pau section in the role of the team which must give everything at home to hope without going out. And it is Vannes, a direct competitor who will come to Hameau on Saturday. A two-day course is on the program. But, good news, Beka Gorgadze will return.
Pau is preparing for a new knife match at home. It will be necessary to rule out Vannes, a direct rival in the race to maintain. This became the challenge for the Palois who experienced the same thing against Lyon during their last home outing. The Palois have planned to prepare for this meeting with a two-day course in the Basque Country, with a very early meeting the day after Christmas.
The heavy defeat in Toulon (56-25) unfortunately did not surprise many people: Pau lost for the sixth time out of six away with a shower of penalties and two cards. In particular, we saw a wreck-like end to the match. In the 51st, the score was only 24 to 20. The scenario is classic between a team looking down and a team clearly playing for the Top 6, or even higher. Pau does not have the strength to fight with the best, at least not at the moment with the string of injured people who populate its infirmary (Gorgadze, Attissogbe, Rey, Kaulashvili, Whitelock, etc.). We noted a losing conquest in the first period, especially the scrum. And fortunately Ugo Auradou came in to bring his knowledge of the sidelines.
“We must deserve to survive in the Top 14”
“In difficult times, perhaps we try to refocus on receptions”, explained Émilien Gailleton. It’s the eternal question of “mental”, an all-purpose argument but which can be applied in a commitment sport like rugby. A team that feels inferior perhaps develops unconscious reflexes to let a game that is going too poorly go by telling itself that it must save energy for the following match at home. It’s this refrain also aliveiIt’s the rugby that the people of Palois seem to sing. Sébastien Piqueronies summed up his thoughts as follows after Mayol’s discomfiture: “CIt’s not because we lost in Toulon that there will be more pressure against Vannes. We must deserve to survive in the Top 14.” Maybe the Section knows where it is, it doesn’t think it’s someone else. Maybe we call it the culture of maintenance. She will spend a mini-stay on the Basque Coast from Thursday to Saturday morning to thoroughly review the basics of a game which provides the essentials. The challenge seemed possible, but difficult. But information emerged from Thursday. It has been learned that Beka Gorgadze has recovered from his ankle injury sustained in October. It should start on Saturday. Really good news when we know how much he has scored in the Béarnais game over the last two months.
