Rugby

Fabien Fortassin had indicated before the match that we would remember this meeting. He is not wrong, but it will not be for the honor lap of the old players, nor for the fireworks after the match, which came to celebrate the 10 years of Valence Romans Drôme Rugby.

The main memories that will haunt the Drôme supporters will undoubtedly be those of a Provence Rugby team that was far too strong this Friday evening and came to blow out the candles on a cake that the Drômois never managed to taste.

On the wet grass of Pompidou, Philippe Saint-André’s players unraveled their rugby and displayed a physical power rarely seen in an opponent in Drôme. In all aspects of the game, they were superior to the local players who may have been intimidated by the stakes or festivities. Nevertheless, for Fabien Fortassin’s last match on the VRDR bench at home, he suffered his heaviest defeat (21-34).

Context: Fabien Fortassin’s last match as a coach at VRDR ended in a heavy defeat to Provence Rugby, marking the 10th anniversary of Valence Romans Drôme Rugby.

Fact Check: The Drôme team suffered a significant loss to Provence Rugby, highlighting the physical dominance of the visiting team.

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First-Half Struggles

A fault in the first half facing the wind allowed the waves of Provence to relentlessly crash against the Drôme defense, which eventually gave way. With a numerical disadvantage after a yellow card against Ryan McCauley (28th), the Damiers conceded twice. First on a carried ball by Latterrade (0-10, 29th) and then on a powerful try by Jalagonia (0-17, 32nd). And it could have been worse if Joris Moura had not saved his team (31st), or if Drouet’s try had not been disallowed by the video (35th).

Despite Pontanier’s try (7-17, 37th), the Drômois cracked again at the end of the first half with a try from Drouet (7-24, 40+5th). The die was cast, and the second half only confirmed the superiority of the Provence team in the game. Latterrade scored a double (7-34, 48th), even allowing Provence to imagine taking an offensive bonus in Drôme. However, Sasha Idoumi (14-34, 61st) and Paul Marsan at the final whistle (21-34, 80th) narrowed the gap but could not avoid defeat, the second at home this season after Vannes (26-36) in March.

With this misstep, VRDR drops out of the top 4 of Pro D2 for the first time in many weeks and sees the possibility of a new celebration at home definitively disappear. Next Thursday (9 pm), for the first match of the finals in its history, the Drômois will travel to Oyonnax, a land where they have never won. And even though everyone would have signed up for that at the start of the season, it leaves a bitter taste for a team that deserved to play in front of their audience once again.