The Six Nations are taking a well earned breather this week, and back after its own week long hiatus are the Pro D2 Thursday Night Lights to start the rugby weekend, back in the ‘balcony of the southwest’, where Soyaux Angoulême take on this season’s surprise package, Valence Romans.
The Six Nations are taking a well earned breather this week, and back after its own week long hiatus are the Pro D2 Thursday Night Lights to start the rugby weekend, back in the ‘balcony of the southwest’, where Soyaux Angoulême take on this season’s surprise package, Valence Romans.
In each of the last two seasons there has been an eye-catching name in the end of season play-off places to break the hegemony of established names and big budget clubs. Two seasons ago, Dax recorded 17 wins and finished 5th in spite of only being promoted from Nationale the season before, matched last year by Thursday’s host, Angoulême, securing their first ever Barrage finish.
For Valence-Romans, their 9th place finish last season represented their best since being promoted to Pro D2 in 2019, in spite of tasting greater success in their previous incarnation as US Romanaise throughout the 20th century. That with 9 games to play they have already beaten their number of wins from last time out, is testament to how much further they have risen this season.
Perhaps it should have been expected. In Manager Fabien Fourtassin and Sporting Director Jonathan Wisniewski, Valence Romans possess two of the most exciting young coaches in the French game, and two former Top 14 flyhalves that made it very clear at the start of the season the Drôme side were not in the business of making up the numbers.
In this fixture it’s all change at 10 and indeed elsewhere for the away side. Few players have had a bigger impact in putting Valence Romans on the rugby map than flyhalf Lucas Meret, but the league’s leading points scorer is rested. Omitted too are Thomas Rozière, the man with most metres made and minutes played in Pro D2 this season, regular centre Mathieu Guillamot, Louis Suaud, the league’s top tackler, and Dorian Marco-Pena, the hooker currently second in the try scoring charts.
Valence Romans have tended to buck the trend and favour consistency over wholesale rotation away from home, but with one of the smaller squads in the league, the rotation here makes sense in light of what’s on the horizon. In the eight rounds to the end of the regular season to follow, Valence have five home games remaining, all against the rest of the current top 6, starting next week in the late Friday kick off against Vannes. Poised to be kingmakers come the business end and with their own play-off place to secure, keenly managing minutes can be expected.
Still, there is a huge amount of intrigue in the side that travels on Thursday night. Tom Ross, formerly of the Brumbies, Waratahs and Stade Niçois, plays in his first game of the season, whilst Izaiah Moore-Aiono, the Samoan-capped former Saracen, plays in his second. Mattéo Rodor starts at fly-half for the first time in Valence colours in place of Meret, and Doriane Marceline makes his senior debut in place of Guillamot. There’s international interest on the bench in the form of Canadian international hooker Andrew Quattrin, and English born Frenchman Calum Randle, who has represented both France and England on the 7s circuit before returning to 15s this year.
Soyaux Angoulême’s season could probably best be described as patchy. There have been glimpses of the attack that was so potent last season, but there’s been an inconsistency marked by 4 home losses, most recently to Oyonnax but perhaps more noticeably to Biarritz and Aurillac. Jules Dubecq and Nathan Farissier represent a pair of high quality wing options but four and three tries for the season respectively are indicative of a side that hasn’t reached its attacking peak just yet.
The two starting half backs, Baptiste Escoffre and Paul Bergès were catapulted into the limelight in Angoulême’s best performance of the season, a Round 8 victory at Brive in which both made their debuts, in the case of Bergès, off the bench following an early injury to Ben Botica. Botica was back for Angoulême’s recent home win over Mont-de-Marsan, and despite being on the bench here remains one of the league’s classiest operators. Arthur Proult, one of the outstanding players in the division last season, is also on the bench, his more recent form mirroring that of SAXV.
Up front, the plan from Alex Ruiz seems pretty clear. In starting Pone Fa’amausili, Motu Matu’u and Richie Arnold, the home team have gone with some serious bulk from the start, including the sizeable frame of Matthew Beukeboom, reverting to the back row for a third consecutive game, having previously played most of the season at lock.
The visitors’ rotation would suggest a home victory is the most likely outcome, but Angoulême’s inconsistency doesn’t make that a guarantee. Angoulême average 22 points in their home games this season, the exact same as Valence are averaging away, and both sides have scored 23 tries home and away respectively. A result as tight as those figures would suggest, would be easier to swallow for the visiting side than it would be to the Charente faithful.
Best of the Rest
There’s only one place to look this week and that’s Brittany on Friday night. First place Vannes, unbeaten at home, face second place Colomiers, who visit the Stade de la Rabine with the best away record in the league. With only one fixture to follow before a two week gap, neutral eyes will be hoping Les Colombes travel fully loaded in what could be the fixture of the season to date.
Elsewhere, Grenoble visit a Nevers side without a win in 6, looking to keep their remote Barrage hopes alive, whilst Carcassonne and Mont-de-Marsan have huge fixtures in their relegation battle against Aurillac and Béziers respectively.
Pro D2 continues this Thursday (26th February) with Soyaux Angoulême vs Valence Romans, available to UK & Ireland viewers for free via FRUK Rugby on YouTube.