Decoding. Pro D2: We persisted… How SU Agens defense allowed them to secure five points against Biarritz

Agen held firm defensively to repel Biarritz in a tense encounter. The Agen team struggled to create chances but stood strong against the Basque attacks throughout the match.

Rarely this season have we seen Agen with so few offensive weapons. They spent most of their time defending against a Biarritz team that made numerous attempts. “It was complicated. Of course, we prefer to have the ball, to keep it. But we were solid in defense. We showed that defensively, we were present, capable of repelling the opposing players. Even if they won some contacts, we knew how to stay together, connected. We made significant efforts on long defensive sequences, and we held up well,” summarized Lucas Martins, one of the heroes of the match.

However, the match’s start suggested a fairly quiet evening, with a clinical Sporting side securing the bonus point after more than thirty minutes of play. But Giorgi Nutsubidze’s try at the end of the first half and especially Biarritz’s strong start to the second half disrupted Agen’s plans.

“We lacked precision. The problem was the first ten to fifteen minutes after halftime. We need to do better after the break because before halftime, we were good. We need to continue playing,” lamented Ollie Cummins. Agen had to bend.

They did so admirably, never giving up, sometimes with a touch of luck, such as a last pass completely missed by Spring, even though the try seemed certain (52nd minute). “We struggled. They were well organized. We lacked a bit of energy in our ball carrying, with runs to a stop and not sharp enough,” noted third row Thomas Hébert.

This sentiment was shared by coach Boris Bouhraoua. “We didn’t always play in the right zones. We could have played more in the axis, around the rucks. We swept the field too much. We also didn’t manage to provoke the third line of defense. We hesitated, and we didn’t play enough on the advantage line,” said Hébert.

Despite carrying the ball well, a lethal weapon for Clément Martinez’s team, Biarritz couldn’t find a way through. Agen held firm, deprived of possession, before securing a bonus point with a final burst from Martins, resulting in a harsh but telling scoreline, highlighting the difference between two teams with contrasting dynamics.

Without convincing, Agen managed to secure the essentials. “It was the goal before the match to have the five points. It’s done, but we clearly lacked precision. In the second half, I don’t know how many times we entered their 22 meters without scoring,” noted Martins, before concluding: “We were really looking for a try, as we were three tries to one. In the end, we couldn’t score, we lost the ball, and we lacked patience. We will have to work on precision in the scoring zone to then be freer and score more points.” An area for improvement clearly to be addressed for Agen. The theme of the week at Armandie is known before the “final” against Oyonnax.