Rugby (Pro D2). After Agen-Rouen, the Agenais alignment validates the Goutta Touch
A third bonus victory…
A third bonus victory this season and a return to the top 6 (4e), SU Agen had plenty of points on Friday night against Rouen (30-13). Arnaud Duputs’ partners have also garnered a good dose of confidence. If the progress in the offensive animation is visible, with this desire to seek the outside rewarded in particular on the test in first hand of Railevu (46e), one sector was particularly awaited: the fingerboard.
Suffering for several weeks, the Agen alignment was the real Achilles’ heel of the SUA on the third block. A fragility which cost the Agenais dearly and pushed manager Bernard Goutta to get closer to the field to take things in hand and “remove a little pressure” from forwards coach Dave Ryan. “The touch is a complex sector, I know it for having worked on it for fifteen years”, insists the Catalan, former third line very airy wing, which brought “changes at the level of the organization” of the Agenais alignment .
Royal Air Demotte
The Goutta Touch seems to have paid off, with William Demotte as the main ball provider, in the absence of Farré and Erbani. Of the dozen touches that the SUA had to want this Friday, he lost only one ball (51e), penalized with a broken arm for a throw by right. “Bernard (Goutta) brought us serenity in this sector and the fact of not putting a lot of pressure on ourselves, underlines hooker Clément Martinez. He refocused us on simple, effective things, with speed and clarity. »