Narbonne is on a very good momentum since the resumption of the National Championship. After their victory in Aubenas last week (16-20), the RCN intended to confirm against Blagnac. The Narbonnais fulfilled their contract by winning 31-11, a 6th straight victory.
But watch out for the Toulouse players who, in recent weeks, have found strong colors of 5 consecutive victories including youis outside, 3rd place with 34 points.
But beware, the Haut-Garonnais had bowed only slightly (29-24) in the first leg at the Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié. Leading 21-3 at half-time, Christophe Deylaud and Eric Escribano’s men managed to shake Racing at the very end of the match.
Blagnac (8th with 25 points) is another size that Aubenas and the RCN will not have to reproduce the same inaccuracies as in Ardèche under penalty of immediate sanctions.
Composition of the Blagnac team: 1 JB Martin – 2 Villerouge – 3 Weber – 4 Maurens – 5 Mutel – 6 Medvès (cap) – 7 Lecomte – 8 Mabas – 9 Brun (m) – 10 Seunes (o) – 11 Villemur – 12 Gaignard – 13 N. Tolofua – 14 Tardieu – 15 Vernetti
Substitutes: 16 Biscioni- 17 Piffero – 18 Mignonat – 19 Banière – 20 Augustin – 21 Graulle – 22 Labadie – 23 De Sousa
Coaches: Christophe Deylaud, Eric Escribano and Romain Fuertes.
Patrick Pezery and Laurent Balue.
Composition of the RCN team: 1 Abbey – 2 Rochier – 3 Cotet – Faleafa – 5 Visser – 6 Dumoulin – 7 Sese – 8 Nouhaillaguet (cap) – 9 Nova (m) – 10 Goutard (o) – 11 E. Ducom – 12 Fekitoa – 13 Nueno – 14 Namy – 15 Justes
Substitutes: 16 Blanc – 17 Martinez – 18 Plaza – 19 Recordier – 20 Bessaguet – 21 Nawaqatabu – 22 P.H Ducom – 23 Maké
On the bench, note the return of Blanc and Maké in the 1st line, the 3rd Recordier line, Bessaguet in the hinge and the Nawaqatabu center.
Coaches: Patrick Pezery and Laurent Balue.
Three changes have been made compared to the starting XV in Aubenas: Faleafa replaces Kbaier with an elbow injury, Nova succeeds Kaiser and Justes takes over at the final defense in place of Griffoul.
The sky is gray at the Stade Ernest-Argelès in Blagnac and the high wind (55km / h with gusts of 110km / h) undoubtedly played a major role in this match.
Blagnac started with a strong wind, and struggled to keep the ball, but the first mistake was costly. The ensuing melee resulted in a penalty, on which the orange and black opted for the penalty touch: clear capture of the third line Dumoulin and maul carried conqueror concluded by the same Dumoulin.
Yet, after a ball scratched on the ground, the Weber pillar quickly played a penalty, the action unfolded and winger Tardieu was picked up 50 yards later (11th). A few minutes later, the three-quarter center Tolofua set the defense full center and the tackler did not leave the area. The opportunity was too good for Brun, 22 meters, to seize it (7-3, 16th).
Well helped by the long game at the foot of Goutard, the orange and black repulsed the offensives and invested the Blagnac camp. After another touchdown by Dumoulin, the ball fell into the hands of Nueno. The three-quarter center, taking advantage of a slight defensive delay, took Tolofua’s inside and went away, after a 40-meter run, to score his team’s second try. Goutard added two points (14-3, 27th). Following a collapsed maul, the Narbonne opener scored three new points (17-3, 31st). Nevertheless, it was the red and blues who were forcing at the end of the period: two balls stolen in touch by Lecomte, and then an offensive initiated by a good start from hooker Villerouge, well relayed by Manas and Tolofua. Narbonne committed a new foul on the ground, still sanctioned by Brun (17-6, 40th). Mr. Gleyze was whistling the pause.
Far from lowering his arms, the BSCR was then forcing to finish on a good note, chaining scrimmages, touches and penalties. Narbonne turned his back but ended up blaming himself a little too often. Nouhaillaguet then picked up a yellow card (72nd). Now in numerical superiority, President Trey’s men were finally breaking the lock. After a scrimmage in the 22 opponents, Brun opted for the small side and served Graulle. The winger was recovering, but on the return, the second line Mignonat came up and scored strongly against three defenders (31-11, 77th). That was the final score.
Eric Escribano: “There’s nothing to say. Narbonne has mastered his subject from start to finish. We see that this is the best team in the hen right now. They are aggressive, they hurt. They have this vacuum system that is very effective. A structured team. ”
Flavien Nouhaillaguet (captain, Narbonne): “The result goes beyond our expectations, we can get a bonus here. We had that we were going to face a very strong team up front with a lot of quality, like us on a very good dynamic. Difficult conditions: even though we are used to the wind, I don’t think there are so many in Narbonne. A good start to the second half where, despite the support of the wind, they couldn’t get out of their homes. We worked well this week. (…) Good for us ”.
Laurent Balue: “We were expecting a big game given Blagnac’s performance in January, like their last victory for a great Suresnes team. Since the resumption, we hear that we only win against “small” teams. We wanted to show that even against a team like Blagnac, we were able to respond present (…) We knew that it was a defense with a lot of control, (…) our forwards who made a big game in conquest and our hinge, which handled the match perfectly in very difficult weather conditions ”.
For several weeks now, we have almost tended to repeat ourselves. Unbeaten for five matches and the resumption of the championship in January, the men of the Pézery-Balue duo are going to seek a sixth consecutive success in Blagnac this Sunday.
NEXT MATCH: Dax – Narbonne, February 27 at 3:30 p.m. – STADE MAURICE BOYAU.
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