Oyonnax confirms, Bayonne misses the opportunity, Rouen had its head elsewhere
Oyonnax confirmed their recently acquired status as leaders of Pro D2 by winning 19-8 against Nevers, Bayonne missed the chance to close in on the championship leading duo as Rouen weren’t in the game Friday during the 18th day.
A try from Charlie Cassang, 4 defeats and a conversion from Jules Soulan when receiving Nevers (4th) at the Stade Charles-Mathon allowed the leader (69 points) to attack his impressive series of now 10 consecutive victories. USON remain fragile fourth just one point ahead of Colomiers, who lost 27-20 and four tries to two on the field of Provence Rugby the day before.
Stade Montois, ex-leader of Pro D2, remains in contact with Oyonnax thanks to its clear 33-6 victory over the red lantern, Narbonne. Mont-de-Marsan allowed himself to take the point of the offensive bonus thanks to 3 tries.
Rouen, which was fighting for its maintenance, did not really have the head for rugby against Carcassonne. The brutal death of his opening half Jordan Michallet (29) at the start of the week was on everyone’s mind and the emotion was intense at the Robert-Diochon stadium during the minute of applause (also observed on all the lawns of Pro D2 as desired by the NRL) in memory of the young player before the meeting. His number (10) remained in the locker room to face the Audois. Rouen opened the scoring with a penalty, before leaving the match to Carcassonne who scored 3 tries.
The fight was much tighter between Bayonne and Grenoble in the closing match. The Basques, largely dominated in the first period, made the effort to come back to score in the second half, scoring 3 tries. And while Rowing rowed to pass, the last 10 minutes of the match became crazy: the Isérois scored a drop in the 74th (32-34), before an exchange of successful defeats. The siren sounded at 35-34. But with a final defeat to play for Grenoble and finally offer a prestigious victory to the Isérois at the Jean Dauger stadium (37-35). The Sky and White miss the opportunity to put pressure on the leading duo of the championship but take the defensive bonus.
Earlier, Montauban and Bourg-en Bresse drew 27-all, 3 tries to 4.