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Your rugby weekend kicks off this Thursday with a trip to Angoulême, host city of the world’s third largest comic festival, as Pro D2 Round 9 sees Grenoble travel to Stade Chanzy, home of Soyaux Angoulême XV Charente (SAXV).
Round 9’s curtain raiser offers the chance to get a good look at two sides each enduring tricky starts to the season. Last week Grenoble crushed Carcassonne 57-12 at the Stade des Alpes, reminiscent of many a drubbing last season, while a youthful SAXV side defied all odds and expectations in securing a win away at big spending Brive, echoing some of their impressive results from a 2024-2025 season in which they recorded more away wins than any other side.
So are we looking at two sides coming into Round 9 in good form? Hard to tell. Grenoble have been some way from the imperious side that steamrolled their way to 15 home wins last season. Their defeat by Provence earlier this month was their first home defeat in the regular league season since January 2024, and they’ve suffered comprehensive defeats on the road to both Agen and Mont-de-Marsan.
Their stuttering start to the season was perhaps to be expected. Having finished clear at the top of the league last year, they first lost out to unfancied US Montauban in the Pro D2 final, before falling agonisingly short in the Top 14 Access match at home to Perpignan. It was their third straight loss in each of those fixtures, with a late penalty for USAP’s Tommaso Allan eerily reminiscent of their loss to Montpellier in the same game a year prior.
Combine that painful case of déja vu with a host of key injuries - most notably to Sam Davies - and the exit of backs coach Nicolas Nadau that resulted in the threat of strike action from the players, and some indifferent performances make more sense.
Regardless, Grenoble go into this game with plenty of firepower. Portugal’s South African-born prop Cody Thomas has been excellent at tighthead, but switches to loosehead to form a formidable front row alongside fellow South African and former Bath man Johannes Jonker. Mathis Baret, a dynamic ball carrier with an impressive offloading game, has established himself at No.8 following some strong outings for France U20s last season.
Barnabé Couilloud’s pace and speed of service mark him out as one of the league’s best scrumhalves, and his game management will be critical alongside Max Clément. The 22 year old fly half is still developing, and finds himself in a typically powerful, if unfamiliar, midfield.
Out wide, Grenoble look mouthwatering. Algerian international Nadir Megdoud makes his second start having already represented Bayonne in the Top14 this year, and on the right wing, the outstanding Raffaele Costa Storti is fresh from a hat-trick last week. The Portuguese flyer holds the record for the most tries in a Pro D2 season, a cool 21 from only 19 games two campaigns ago for Beziers. Samuel Bielle-Biarrey may not have played a first team game yet for Grenoble, but something tells us he might have a bit of pace to bring from the bench.
For SAXV, given their early season struggles, last Friday’s win in Brive may be the most eye-catching result in the league to date. Last season was an historic one for SAXV - an all-time league high of 5th and first ever play-off appearance - and successes were characterised by some thrilling attacking rugby from a youthful side with a sprinkling of experienced heads: regulars Motu Motu’u, Sikeli Nabou, Manny Saubusse, Jonny May and former Top 14 Player of the Year Ben Botica are all in the second half of their fourth decade.
Botica is undoubtedly SAXV’s key man. He may have started last week, but was withdrawn early with injury, meaning that SAXV played the best part of an hour with two 20 year old half backs making their first appearances in senior rugby. Paul Bergès, handed his first start this week, was signed from Toulouse over the summer. Baptiste Escoffre was brought in from Pau, and having marked his debut with a maiden try, provides the only half-back cover on a 6-2 bench this week, with another former Palois Alexis Levron given the starting berth. Escoffre has already been handed the moniker ‘Baby Dupont’ and not just because of his playing style: his first club was Magnoac, whose most famous alumni is - well you can probably guess.
The eye-catching signing of May nudged SAXV into the consciousness of a wider audience last year, but their recent progress can be attributed to another man that has seen plenty of time on the international stage. Head coach Alexandre Ruiz’s refereeing career took him to the Olympic Games and the Rugby World Cup, before switching to coaching in 2021. His first season as a coach saw him win a Top 14 title as part of the team at Montpellier, and in 2023 he was handed his first head coach role in Angoulême.
This week’s selection looks typical of the Ruiz blueprint: plenty of youth and pace throughout, with a few older internationals adding much-needed ballast. Former Wallabies Richie Arnold and Pone Fa'amausili start alongside Fijian Nabou in the tight five, while former NZ 7s man George Tilsley is the aggressive midfield fulcrum around which SAXV’s breathless attack will be based.
May has been far from his best for SAXV following niggling injuries and he doesn’t feature here, but as with Grenoble, the Angoulême wings are dripping with quality. Jules Debecq and Nathan Farissier arguably outplayed the Englishman last year whilst Fiji U20s winger Avakuki Niusalelekitoga is in line for his debut from a bench that also includes Seydou Diakite, the 23 year old tighthead who has developed a reputation for his destructive work at the set piece.
Both sides then come into this week with a selection balance mirroring their more successful incarnations from last season. Which side can better replicate previous glories remains to be seen…
Pro D2 continues this Thursday (30 October) with Soyaux Angoulême v Grenoble, available to UK & Ireland viewers for free via FRUK Rugby on YouTube.