Pro D2 – It was one of the high-stakes matches on this 27th day of the championship at the Chanzy stadium in Angoulême between a SA race for the Top 6. After a first act characterized by the cold realism of Coujous, Angoumoisins found the resources to turn the match after returning from the locker room by passing a deadly 19-0. Soyaux-Angoulême almost guarantees to stay in Pro D2 while Brive compromises its chances of playing in the final stages.
In an extremely important match for both teams, there would inevitably be a very disappointed person this evening at the final whistle in what almost looked like a knockout match. The Charentais had long dominated the scoring despite possession. Charentais got off to a poor start in the rescue goal, but eventually managed to respond to Brive and the wind to turn the tide with a 22-12 success that does not suffer from any dispute in the view of the second period is one-sided. 19-0 in the second half undoubtedly put the SA XV back on the Pro D2 map for another season.
Dominating is not scoring
Charentais took the fight in the right direction. They dominated the debates, settled in the Brive camp and ended up opening the scoring on Ben Botica’s second try in a match characterized by strong winds (3-0, 14th). But although the SA XV could have led 9-0 with more success, it was Brive who took the score on their first attack or almost into the opposite half. On a well-negotiated touch down the right 22m, the ball was misplaced with three quarters to the left, but it was still beneficial for Stuart Olding on the pickup to rush past the nose and beard of Angoumoisins too slowly (23rd, 3 -7) .
Less than 10 minutes later, Coujous did it again after a throw-in, still well distributed in Soyaux’s 22 metres. If the penetrating group of Arnaud Méla’s men was well stopped, Asaeli Tuivuaka found space on the short side to score with power (32nd, 3-12). Brive went into the break with a good lead against groggy Charentais. The Top 6 mission of the Corréziens was launched perfectly.
A one-way second period
But a match characterized by too much wind can completely reshuffle the cards in the second half. Why shouldn’t the team that hadn’t been able to take advantage of the wind at their back in the first 40 minutes do better, like Brive, with Eole against them? The response came quickly as Angoumoisins suffocated Brivists from the start with more impact and speed in all shots. Five minutes after the restart SA scored their first try from their winger Eoghan Barrett. Botica came out of the scrum on the left side and moved Barrett for a follow-up kick which he calmly retrieved thanks to the rebound (45th, 8-12).
Three minutes later, Charente’s rampage continued with a decisive breakthrough from Lafitte to bring the ball within 5 meters of Brive. Pick-and-go did the rest thanks to Nabou, sparkling this evening, and then Lemardelet for the try (49th, 13-12). Everything was better for Soyaux with the skill of the boot that returned for Botica (56th and 61st, 19-12), the second error, from Tuivuaka, and even reduced Brivistes to 14.
The end of the match was characterized above all by the enormous defense of Angoumoisins, heroic in the critical phases with an innumerable number of scraped balls in the second half, absolutely disgusting Brive. Botica’s last penalty in the axis, before the siren (80th, 22-12) completely delivered Chanzy in the hope of remaining in Pro D2. The Brivistes need a flawless performance over the last three days to hope to reach the top 6.
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