Pro D2. Despite its courage, Rouen Normandy Rugby loses against Mont-de-Marsan
Through Jerome Moriniere
Published on
Clearly, the Lions of Rouen (Seine Maritime) no longer succeed in front of their public Robert Diochon stadium where they lost for the fifth time in a row on Friday February 11, 2022 against Mont de Marsan (13-19). In itself, this new failure is not surprising since the Landes formation occupies second place in the standings behind Oyonnax and has only conceded five defeats, but it lost the RNR in an uncomfortable position, still in the relegation zone. (15th, 32 points).
Reinvigorated by a success in Grenoble two weeks earlier (15-14), the Normans fell with the honors, but they finished the meeting without the slightest point as was already the case against Nevers (10-23), Bourg (11-18) and Carcassonne (3-24). They missed the defensive bonus for one point (Editor’s note: you have to lose by 5 points maximum) which could be very expensive at the end of the season, especially since outside, Grenoble (33 points) and Bourg- en-Bresse (32 points) also drew a blank during the day.
Huge heat stroke
The game had started with a huge heat stroke when Coly took advantage of a counter on Lydon in midfield to extend the ball at the foot towards the in-goal. Returning to cover, the Irish opener caught up on his line (2nd). The probable future Dutch international was subjected to the pounding of Coly who ended up putting him at fault on the ground (11th).
On the penal touch, the Normans defended standing, Leleu neutralized the ball carrier, ensuring a return to the visitor camp. In continuity, Megdoud sowed discord, carried the ball on the 22. In the relay, his teammates caused a Mons foul, a tailgating in the hand, on a ruck at 22, giving Lydon the unmissable opportunity to open the scoring (3-0, 15th).
A very short-lived advantage since the Argentine center Mensa planted a try by tumbling to the side for the benefit of the work of a mover from Wakaya (3-5, 18th). In the process, Coly, on his 22, intercepted a pass from Nicolas, and sprinted towards the in-goal despite the desperate attempt of Lydon (3-10, 19th). A double blow of mass, fortunately without the 4 points of the transformations. Each initiative of the Landais, especially on the outside, put the Normans in difficulty. Thanks to a penal surgical touch from Jackson, the RNR pushed the Landais to the fault so much so that Lydon reduced the mark on inclined (6-10, 34th), maintaining the suspense for the second act.
Too many faults of the RNR
He started badly for the Rouennais, sanctioned on a sensitivity of Coly from 30 m (6-13, 43rd), which, shortly after, missed the following one by a few centimeters (48th). Mont-de-Marsan rode dangerously in the 22, without managing to pierce a united defense. Rouen was trying to fight back but he was exposing himself to interceptions which reduced his efforts to nothing. A kick to follow from Surano aroused the enthusiasm of the public, but the Mons rear Laousse Azpiazu cleared on his 15 m (58th). On three occasions, the RNR lost the benefit of touches for faults in mauls or hesitations when the ball fell. Mont-de-Marsan had only to wait to collect a bonus penalty (6-16, 65th).
At the foot of the wall, the Normans threw themselves headlong into the 22. A first maul could have hit the mark but it was from the second that hope came. After the effort from the forwards, thanks to virtuoso passes, Peleusema and Surano placed Megdoud in orbit, under the posts (13-16, 70th). A charge from Woki, elbow forward, was penalized with a red card (74th) which left Rouen in inferiority. The penalty was double with the sanction of Mont-de-Marsan (13-19, 75th), who also lost an element (Gouzou), victim of a yellow card (77th). This rebalancing was useless for the RNR, once again empty-handed despite laudable intentions.
Post-match reactions
Nicolas Godignon (Rouen coach) : “We are not a team that cheats. We see the energy, the abnegation that we proceed but we have to control the key moments. We had penal touches, we had the upper hand but we made mistakes: a double screen, a ball dropped in the transfer, a maul which splits in two and goes off again… On the interception, Coly feels the blow but I find it hard to see that he is not offside. It doesn’t turn out often for us. It’s like that when you’re at the bottom of the table. We are really disappointed, because we felt we could do it. The group is great, they work well, they want to do it, but it’s getting more and more complicated, because we’re not moving fast. Fortunately, our opponents are on the same pace… We put a lot of intensity, but made too many mistakes that we have to control. We feel that the boys do not want to let go. There is also a bit of bad luck. We felt we could do it. We are still expecting three new players, new forces in the coming weeks. »
Hugo Ndiaye (pillar of Rouen): “It’s a big disappointment, frustration. It’s hard to do 80 minutes like that and end up with no points. We got into the Mont-de-Marsan game too much around the rucks, we had bad circulation. We let ourselves be too much and we were not patient enough in our 30 meters. We did not know how to concretize, we were not effective. We managed to get back to 3 points on our only try. There was really better to do. It is also a question of details on certain mauls. We dropped balloons when we could gain the upper hand. We keep our motivation to deliver war matches. We deserve better, given our squad and the way we play. Coly’s interception for the try against hurt us a lot, because we were on a strong moment. At first, we didn’t believe it because there was a long video refereeing, but in the end, it’s a cap test. »
Kevin Milhorat (back of Rouen) : “There were balls to play tonight but in the end, there was always a small mistake that messed things up. It’s a bit of the story of our matches at the moment. In Grenoble, we also had few chances but we put them to the bottom. It’s hard to finish what you start. Mont-de-Marsan made a lot of mistakes, but we couldn’t find the keys. This team always sends back to the opponent to make him make mistakes. The period is complicated, the end of matches are hard to manage, because we are very disappointed and frustrated. Two months ago, we felt that we could have an easier maintenance. There, we know that we will fight until the end. We don’t really know why it changed, but at the start, we had a favorable schedule. Now every game is played, there is no longer a small team that takes 50 points. »
Alain Geslin
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