This trip to Brittany was a rotten match. Quickly deprived of Matthieu Jalibert, UBB experienced a catastrophic first period against RC Vannes this Saturday evening. Very well behind at the break (7-29), they were able to overthrow the Vannes mountains to finally win and consolidate their second place.
At halftime, the church seemed to have been said. The Rabine stadium was ready to celebrate an important victory against Union Bordeaux-Bègles, the finalist of the last Top 14 exercise. What could be better for a promoted team, last in the championship with two victories in nine matches?
With four tries in 32 minutes, signed Michael Ruru (4th), Francis Saili (13th), Paul Surano (18th) and Mako Vunipola (32nd), Vannes thought they had done the hardest part. And all the more so as Bordeaux-Bègles had lost their playing master Matthieu Jalibert, injured after contact with pillar Vunipola in the second minute of play.
The Breton public then went crazy, almost stunned to see their players give such a beating to the second in the Top 14 behind Toulouse. But Yannick Bru’s men refused to suffer a second defeat after that in Clermont, and this before returning from the locker room.
In the 40th minute, Ben Tapuai came to reduce the gap, taking advantage of a space in the Vannes defense. Enough to remind their opponents just before the break that the UBB is not dead. “At half-time, we said to ourselves that we were putting the jersey and our supporters to shame,” reacted pillar and captain Jefferson Poirot after the match on Canal +.
After the break, the Bordeaux steamroller then got going. From the first action, Bordeaux-Bègles scored a new try under the right post by Cyril Cazeaux (42nd). Then comes that four minutes later from Arthur Retière, before another one from the Bordeaux second line (64th), which allows UBB to take the lead for the first time (29-31).
So in the stands, whistles replace the cries of joy. The people of Vannes thought that their players could do as well as their neighbors Brest in football. It didn’t happen. Two final penalties, signed Mateo Garcia and Joey Carbery, will put an end to the hopes of La Rabine (29-37).
“We perhaps saw each other as too beautiful”
After this rout, Maxime Lafage was not kind to him and his team. “We perhaps saw each other a little too handsome, we threw balls at each other’s heads, we were less connected than in the first half. Against teams like that, it pays cash. We showed two different faces this evening. We need to get out of our camp better, to be more disciplined,” reacted, obviously disappointed, the Vannes native, whose team missed the opportunity to leave last place.
Opposite, Yann Lesgourgues experienced a completely opposite encounter. “We got through it completely, we didn’t leave our camp and we did anything. There wasn’t much to say at halftime, just to put in place our game that we had worked on during the week. We had to hold the ball, we had the support of a pretty strong wind. We didn’t have to worry too much and we knew it was going to work. »
