Thursday evening, at the opening of the 10th day of Pro D2, Colomiers tripped up this solid leader.
The leader of the Pro D2 championship, RC Vannes, suffered its first defeat of the season against Colomiers, during a direct confrontation which ended with a score of 15-10. In nine championship matches, Vannes had compiled eight wins and one draw.
The Breton leader must be satisfied with a defensive bonus and is therefore no longer undefeated this season. This meeting, marked by an intense clash, saw the Breton club miss the opportunity to beat the invincibility record held by CA Brive since the 2002-2003 season.
The Bretons, who had always dominated the Haut-Garonnais since 2020, and who were first in the ranking at kick-off, with 8 successes in 9 matches (!) this season, for a draw and no defeat. Away, they had already dominated Mont de Marsan (22-13), Aurillac (19-9), Dax (34-22) and Rouen (14-9). Only Béziers (20-20) had so far managed to hold on to them.
The Columérins were 7th at kick-off. And if they had already suffered defeat 4 times this season, they had never lost at home. They presented themselves this Thursday evening with two successes in the last two meetings: against Angoulême and at Montauban.
The reaction from Colomiers was not long in coming. After a test refused for anticipation, the Haut-Garonnais intensified their pressure. Their efforts were rewarded by a try from Janse Roux, followed by a conversion and a penalty from Thomas Girard, allowing Colomiers to take the lead before half-time.
The Vannes leader then lost the thread a little. Concedes several penalties (three in four minutes between the 22nd and 26th minutes) and consecutive errors, thus allowing Colomiers to have some ammunition to come back and even go ahead on the scoreboard. Thanks to the foot of Thomas Girard, as well as a try from Janse Roux, launched forcefully very close to the goal (35th). Vannes pays for its mistakes and at half-time, Colomiers leads by a short header (10-7).
Returning from the locker room, Colomiers consolidated its lead with another try, this time by Jérémy Béchu. Despite a yellow card picked up by Louis Descoux at the end of the game, the Columérins were able to preserve their lead, resisting the attacks of the Vannetais.
The Bretons are confined to their half of the field, they are unable to obtain enough ammunition to damage their opponents. They take advantage of new mistakes from the Bretons to send Jérémy Béchu to the test (15-7, 53rd). However, the Haut-Garonnais missed a few opportunities to really make the break and were a little scared at the end of the match. The 2nd line Louis Descoux collects a yellow card for illegal clearance (77th) and the Vannes residents take advantage of the numerical superiority to return to scratch a penalty, which Massimo Ortolan validates (15-10, 79th).
Faced with this hitherto invincible leader, the Columérins fulfilled their mission. And won a victory which allows them – at least temporarily – to regain a place in the qualifying places. Julien Sarraute’s players will try to achieve a fourth success in a row with a trip to Rouen the next day. For their part, the Bretons will return to Rabine with the desire to move forward.
Despite this defeat, RC Vannes retains the lead in the ranking with a comfortable margin over its pursuers. Colomiers, thanks to this victory, takes fifth place.
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