No Thursday night rugby this week, but Round 17 of Pro D2 is awash with intrigue, with form sides away from home and some aggressive team selections to match.
No Thursday night rugby this week, but Round 17 of Pro D2 is awash with intrigue, with form sides away from home and some aggressive team selections to match.
Nevers v Provence
We may have been robbed of the Thursday night kick-off by the schedulers this week, but the early kick-off on Friday is arguably the pick of the round. No side has embodied the ‘defend the fortress’ cliché of Pro D2 more than Nevers, 8th in the league with an exact 50:50 win–loss ratio – unbeaten at home but with only a single losing bonus point on their travels.
Provence, on the other hand, are in fine fettle across the board, with seven wins from their last ten matches and a losing bonus point in each of the away games in which they’ve fallen short. There is some rotation from their trouncing of Grenoble last time out, but crucially only two changes in a pack that was outstanding last week, with Thomas Vernet and Albert Tuisue replacing Malachi Hawkes and Guillaume Piazzoli. In the backs, Sitareki Bituniyata continues at 13 after an incredible display on his first start there in that big win.
The battle up front with an imposing Nevers pack is a fascinating one. Amongst a number of standout forwards, tighthead Keynan Knox, following a stint with Bourgoin in Nationale, has showcased the form that made him a Munster regular only a few seasons ago, whilst former Northampton man George Smith continues to impress in the second row.
It would be brave to bet against Nevers at the Stade Pré-Fleuri, but with Provence’s form and Nevers’ home winning margins tightening – most notably in a recent two-point win against Brive that the away side conspired to lose – the signs are it should be a tight one.
Colomiers v Oyonnax
2nd vs 5th, both sides in excellent form, and a contrast in styles make for an exciting tussle between two teams with genuine promotion hopes.
Oyonnax have snuck up into 5th off the back of a pragmatic game plan that has seen them win seven of their last eight games, including away wins at Mont-de-Marsan and Agen. Interviewed on The Rosbifs Rugby Podcast this week, Zack Holmes flagged that in spite of recent strong results, the feeling within the club from the Ain department is that their best, particularly in an attacking sense, is yet to come.
Away to the side with the league’s most miserly defence might not be the place for expansive rugby, but Colomiers have lost twice this season at home to Vannes and Provence, sides Oyonnax will be hoping to be in the promotion mix with, and the visitors have picked a side to win it.
There’s a lovely subplot in this one between two outstanding young fly-halves. Valentin Delpy, on loan from Toulouse, has been sublime in unlocking Colomiers’ expansive attacking game, and starts opposite Justin Bouraux, who will be moving to Clermont Auvergne next season. Expect both to be integral to their sides’ chances on Friday, and to go head to head in the Top 14 for many seasons to come.
Carcassonne v Dax
Carcassonne host Dax in what feels a massive game for both sides, given recent travails and league positions. 16th hosting 14th – ironically where each side sits in terms of overall operating budget – doesn’t quite tell the story of the two teams’ recent fortunes. Dax have won five of their last seven outings, including away to Biarritz, their biggest margin of defeat in that time being a six-point reverse away to Nevers. Their lowly position is the result of a nine-point penalty related to club finances, in addition to the five-point penalty meted out at the start of the season. The club is set to appeal this month.
For Carcassonne, the issues are purely rugby-related. One win in their last eleven, albeit in their most recent home game against Soyaux Angoulême, is relegation form for a side whose first season back in Pro D2 was always going to be a tricky one. Carcassonne recruited well in the off-season, but the late confirmation of ascension to the second tier is always problematic, and at times they’ve been bullied. The recent pickups of towering Irish lock/back-row Frank Bradshaw-Ryan on loan from Montauban and former Sharks hooker Keeron van Vuuren have added ballast, albeit the latter will not be involved this round.
An old-fashioned relegation eight-pointer, it’s a fixture both teams will have targeted from afar, the result of which may prove seminal to each side’s survival hopes, even with twelve rounds still to play.
Vannes v Brive
Another clash between the two biggest budget sides in the league, and like their season opener, it will take a 9pm Saturday kick-off slot usually reserved for the Top 14.
That opener was a 30–30 draw and a game arguably Vannes should have won in spite of playing mostly with 14 men throughout. Since that point, the Breton side have swept all before them, particularly at home, taking 39 from a possible 40 points. Their lowest home winning margin of ten points was away from the Stade de la Rabine fortress in their sell-out fixture at Roazhon Park in Rennes.
For Brive, expectation is always sky-high, and their sixth-place position arguably feels elevated given mid-season performances, injuries and coaching melodrama. Their home form of late appears to be back to its imperious best, coinciding with the return of Pierre-Henry Broncan to full coaching duties. Their away form, however, has been poor, a sole win away in Round 2 at Dax their only victory, although they spurned a huge opportunity in an eventual two-point loss to Nevers two weeks ago. It feels unlikely they’ll get much out of this visit and will instead be eyeing up fixtures against Béziers and Mont-de-Marsan on the horizon. A loss could see the gap between the league’s two giants stretch to 24 points, surely unthinkable at the start of the season.
Best of the Rest
It’s far from last-chance saloon for Grenoble, but nothing but a home victory will suffice against an Agen side who have wobbled after a brilliant start to the season. Biarritz, in spite of conceding more points at home than any other side, will expect a win at the Stade Aguilera, but travelling doesn’t seem to be bothering Soyaux Angoulême at the moment, having won two of their last three away matches and gained a losing bonus point in the other. Béziers seem to have rediscovered their home form just before Christmas with a win against Vannes, but a strong-looking Aurillac side will fancy their chances, having comfortably beaten the Biterrois earlier this season. The league’s most erratic side, Mont de Marsan, only have four wins this season but they have all come at home, and somehow all against some of the league’s best sides (Vannes, Grenoble, Nevers & Provence). In danger of finishing Round 17 as the bottom-placed side, they will be eyeing a fifth such victory with the visit of joint-second placed Valence Romans.
Full interview with Zack Holmes can be found on the latest episode of ‘The Rosbifs Rugby Podcast’, available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
Live Pro D2 will continue on Thursday 22nd January with Agen v Colomiers, available to UK & Ireland viewers for free via FRUK Rugby on YouTube.