ProD2, round one review: Relegated Dax and Mont-de-Marsan both start with home wins

31 August 2009

Relegated Dax made a positive start to life back in ProD2 as they beat promotion favourites SU Agen 16-13 in the standout tie of the weekend’s opening round of matches.

Thomas Lièvremont's men were 9-0 up half-time thanks to a trio of penalties from former Castres fly-half Anthony Lagardère, and when he subsequently converted a 50^th-minute penalty try (after excellent pressure from the Dax pack) the home side had opened up a 16-3 advantage.

Opeti Fonua’s 39^th-minute yellow card didn’t help Agen, but a Francois Gelez penalty reduced the arrears to 10 points before Saïmoni Vaka’s 70^th-minute try made for a tension-filled climax. Gelez added the conversion to bring Agen back to 16-13, but the visitors had to content themselves with a defensive bonus as Dax held out for an opening round win.

Mont-de-Marsan, the other team relegated from Top 14, also started with a win, although their victory margin was even narrower as they saw off play-off semi-finalists La Rochelle 22-21 in a topsy-turvy encounter at the Stade Guy Boniface.

Rochelle full-back Benjamin Dambielle kicked the visitors 3-0 up with a third-minute penalty but ‘Les Montois’ responded with the game’s opening (and only) try two minutes later as Fijian winger Timoci Matanavu touched down – with Yannick Lafforgue adding the extras.

The team’s respective kickers then took over with a Rémi Tales drop-goal and Dambielle penalty lifting La Rochelle into a 9-7 lead before Lafforgue was on target twice for the home side. Dambielle’s second successful penalty left the visitors just 13-12 behind at the interval, and they reclaimed the lead in a fluctuating encounter shortly afterwards when he landed penalty number four.

A further trio of Lafforgue penalties (in the 53^rd, 60^th and 67^th minutes) then gave Mont-de-Marsan a seven-point advantage – taking his own match haul to 17 points in the process – and it proved just enough to claim the win despite Dambielle – who ended with 18 points - adding a late brace of penalties himself in the closing stages.

The division’s two promoted clubs fared less well with both Lannemezan and Aix-en-Provence going down to opening day defeats, although both were playing away from home.

Lannemezan, the Fédérale 1 champions, went down 39-10 at Grenoble as the home side ran in five tries to claim the attacking bonus (and the division’s early lead). Outside centre Pierre Aguillon started the rout with his 10^th-minute effort, with winger Jone Daunivucu and inside centre Denis Lison also going over in the opening period. Fly-half Danie de Beer kicked all three conversions, and a brace of penalties, as Grenoble eased into a 27-7 half-time lead, with Lannemezan’s response coming via a 30^th-minute converted try from hooker Nicolas Sentous. Mur Ludovic’s 47^th-minute penalty left the scores 27-10 until the 10 minutes from the end, but Grenoble then added a further pair of tries – through replacements Roland Bernard and Jonathan Pelissié - as they took full toll of their numerical advantage following substitute Romain Miro’s late yellow card.

Fellow promotees Aix-en-Provence did at least claim a defensive bonus thanks to Bruno Lancelle’s last-ditch drop-goal as they lost 22-15 away to Tarbes.

Tarbes winger Sébastien Caujolle scored the game’s only try shortly before half-time – and promptly celebrated by getting a yellow card two minutes later – with the remainder of the points shared among the two sides’ kickers. Provence fly-half Antonie Lascalmel notched two first-half penalties to keep his side in touch 16-6 at the break, with Lancelle adding a further brace after the interval before his crucial late drop-goal.

Tarbes fly-half Richard Apanui collected a 14-point haul thanks to four penalties and a conversion, with replacement Krist Kopetsky landing a 77^th-minute penalty to complete the home side’s scoring, and seal the win.

Elsewhere, there were also winning starts for Lyon OU, RC Narbonne, FC Auch Gers and Aurillac as all eight results favoured the home sides in the opening round of matches.

Lyon OU had been heavily linked during the week with a merger with troubled Top 14 side Bourgoin, but they put off-the-field concerns to one side as they started with a 17-13 home win against Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

The hosts powered 14-0 ahead by the interval thanks to a pair of penalties from new signing Pierre-Yves Montagnat, a drop-goal from Xavier Sadourny and a 15^th-minute try from scrum-half Brice Salobert.

Replacement prop Xavier Fiard then saw yellow in the 39^th minute, helping Union to grab a foothold in the match when lock Altenstadt Hulme crashed over three minutes after the restart. Pierre-Henri Vermis’ conversion made it 14-7, but Lyon held out with Montagnat’s 69^th-minute penalty easing them to victory despite two further successes from Vermis in the closing stages.

Two tries in the closing two minutes saw RC Narbonne somehow conjure a bonus-point home win against Pau. The game still hung in the balance at 14-12 when 21-year-old Fijian winger Sionasa Vunisa went over in the 79^th minute, and with Pau’s resistance blown Samoan flanker Manaia Salavea then rubbed salt in the away team’s wounds when he touched down just sixty seconds later. New signing Delkeith Pottas added both conversions to leave Narbonne 28-12 victors.

Sionasa’s second-half introduction proved the turning point of the match, with visitors Pau leading 14-12 when the Fijian entered the pitch after an hour’s play. The debutant took just eight minutes to open his (and Narbonne’s) try account, before doubling up with his 79^th-minute effort.

Up until then it had been a tight affair dominated by the kickers, with Pau’s Andre Hough – playing in the centres - succeeding with three first-half penalties as the visitors went in 9-3 ahead at the interval.

Narbonne full-back Christopher Ruiz got his team back on level terms soon after the restart – adding a penalty a drop-goal to his earlier three points – but Pau regained the lead (12-9) just before the hour mark when Clément Darbo succeeded with a 59^th-minute penalty. Then came Sionasa’s introduction as Narbonne played their trump card.

FC Auch Gers ran in three first-half tries at home to Colomiers, but were denied an attacking bonus when Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva touched down for the visitors in the 77^th minute.

Auch completely dominated the opening period with Vincent Cortes giving them an early 9-0 lead courtesy of a trio of early penalties. Prop Roman Suster then went over for their opening try (in the 20^th minute) before subsequent efforts by number eight Alexandre Ricaud and outside centre Renaud Dulin helped them into a 31-3 interval lead. And all that despite having two men yellow carded – scrum-half Anthony Salle-Canne in the 22^nd minute and hooker Vincent Campo in the 34^th. Mind you, Auch weren’t the only team to suffer, with Colomiers pair Fabien Berneau and Jérémy Bertin also being sin-binned in a feisty encounter, with Goneva following suit shortly after the restart.

Four penalties helped Colomiers reduce the arrears, but Auch will be disappointed that a seemingly assured bonus point was nicked from their grasp by Goneva’s late score as he made up for his earlier yellow card.

Aurillac were the weekend’s other winners, overcoming beaten play-off finalists Oyonnax thanks to 17 points from the boot of English fly-half Rory Teague – signed in the summer from Tarbes.

Australian full-back Graydon Staniforth also scored a try, touching down in the 12^th minute in response to an earlier effort from Oyonnax lock Damien Fèvre. Fly-half Sébastien Bouillot added the conversion, two penalties and a drop-goal for the visitors, but Teague’s boot proved equally proficient for the hosts as they opened up with a solid win.

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