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Top 14: the ills of Pau

2020-02-26T19:48:07.314Z


Author of a good start to the season, the Paloise Section has been in a cruel lack of victories for several weeks. She is even a red lantern in the ranking before the reception in Montpellier on Saturday (6 p.m.).


Everything had started so well for the Section. Ambitious, the Palois started the season on a breakneck pace to forget the last, ended in a pitiful eleventh place. And on a Saturday evening in September, after a prestigious Michelin victory against Clermont (37-29), Pau could even dream of a season finally at the height of ambitions and the possibility of playing the final stages of the championship. The club was then third and looked ready for a great year.

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Since ? Nothing or almost nothing, at least in terms of points. On the first four meetings, the Section thus gained as many points as on the following twelve. The classification sanction was not long in coming and the club is today at an alarming last place after last week's defeat at Castres (26-16). " It's quite complicated, quite honestly I have no particular reason for this situation ," Lucas Lucas explains. It's hard to find what's wrong. We are not at our level, it is sure that we are not well at all now. "

"We are not at our level"

Lucas Rey

If the hooker finds it difficult to pinpoint the reasons for this misform, a look at the latest results from the Section partly explains it. The Neo-Aquitaine have not won since November and a success at the time in Bayonne, an impressive series of seven defeats in a row in Top 14. A huge figure, especially since Pau is close to winning in most matches. During this period, the Vert et Blanc lost 10 points against Castres and Toulon, seven at Brive, four against Bordeaux and even three against Stade Français and Clermont. In Brive, we have to win the match and we leave it. It's the same against Clermont at home unfortunately, "admits Lucas Rey.

The main problem in Pau, it is therefore this inability to improve good performances to bring back victories in the last minutes of the games and stop being content with defensive bonus points. Deprived of injury from leaders such as Colin Slade or Quentin Lespiaucq, the Palois pay for this lack of experience when the tension is felt, even if that is no excuse for Lucas Rey. We have a lot of injuries but we are still 23 on the match sheets and we have a quality group. We shouldn't stop on that, ”sweeps the young hooker.

Winning not to be caught

The players of the Section will in any case have to join the proceedings to the floor as of Saturday for the reception of Montpellier. And while the Béarnais have failed to win any of their last four matches at the Stade du Hameau, the task looks even more complicated in the face of an MHR who will no doubt be upset at having brought nothing from his trip to Toulouse on last weekend (25-7). Defeat is however prohibited, especially since in the fight for the maintenance, the French Stadium and Agen seem to be much better for a few weeks.

Read also

  • Calendar and results Top 14
  • Top 14 ranking

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-26

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