Brive get one over title rivals Oyonnax
JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN
COURTNEY Lawes officially kicked off his ProD2 career on Thursday evening with a messy opening day victory as Brive ry Broncan had previously insisted that Lawes should not be considered the ambitious club’s ‘Lionel Messi’.
It seems he’s not the only one taking that message seriously.
Jonny May, too, opened his French rugby account, starting on the wing for Soyaux-Angouleme in their Friday night opener at Aurillac.
Of the two ex-England players who have made the switch to second-tier rugby in France this season, it’s arguably Lawes who faces the greatest pressure.
Brive are, according to Midi Olympique’s annual pre-season survey of ProD2 managers, among the favourites for the title. In fact, according to the poll, they are expected to reach the final – where, if these predictions prove accurate (and there’s no guarantee of that), they should face opening day opponents Oyonnax.
The strong consensus right now is that Joe El-Abd’s Oyonnax – relegated from the Top 14 last season – will go on to be crowned champions for the second time in three seasns, leaving Brive to host the promotion–relegation play-off against whichever side finishes 13th in the Top 14.
El-Abd’s team picked up 11 of the 16 available ‘votes’ for likely title-winners in the survey.
This is not an unusual situation. The side relegated from the top flight is usually a favourite to bounce straight back up among ProD2 managers.
Brive are considered Oyonnax’s biggest championship threat – and they have not hidden their ambition. The club’s new president, Thierry Blandinières, recently said: “We must have one obsession, and that is to be Pro D2 champions and put Brive’s name on the bouclier.”
“I’m discovering things that I’ve not known before in my career” -Courtney Lawes
That Thursday night result, then, may be more than just a confidence booster. Brive’s pack made a mess of Oyonnax’s scrum for the first 40 minutes. At least replacement props Oli Kebble and Paulo Tafili – on five minutes into the second period – shored up the visitors’ set piece.
It’s far too early to talk about advantages, but the Correze club will be happy enough with how most of their opening night went, while the visitors suddenly discovered some extra homework needs doing.
Provence – whose own promotion ambitions last season were undone by their own arrogance in assuming they would walk a home semi-final against Grenoble – are again expected to reach the last four. They have recruited heavily, though fans will have to wait to see star signing George North, who’s unlikely to return to action until 2025 after suffering an achilles injury playing for Wales in March.
Sam Davies’ Grenoble, too, are expected to feature in the playoff semi-finals, according to the managers’ poll, despite losing a lot of experience in the close season. There’s a lot of faith resting on a number of relatively new arrivals.
That’s champion, losing finalist, and the two losing semi-finalists covered – but there’s rather more uncertainty over the two losing sides in the barrage round. Opinions lean towards Nevers, who agonisingly missed out last season as Brive picked up the bonus point try they needed in the dying seconds of the final round, and Mont-de-Marsan. But Beziers are clinging on to the two sides’ coat-tails.
As predictions are for the top of the table, so they are for the bottom. It may seem harsh, but promoted side Nice – despite some smart recruitment grabs of beat likely promotion rivals Oyonnax 18-9 in front of a packed Stade Amedee Domenech.
It was a typical end-of-summer opening-round affair, marked more by handling errors than great skill – though 19-year-old captain and scrum-half Leo Carbonneau’s second-half try, fed by 20-yearold winger Matthis Ferte, is well worth digging out on social media, if you can.
And Lawes himself was a better pass away from marking an impressive debut with a try in the first half.
To the surprise of more than one follower of the English game, the former inter national flanker played in the second row, forming an engine room with a combined age of 72 alongside fellow veteran Sitaleki Timani. Plenty of experience there.
The shock may seem justified – Lawes’ last competitive match at lock was in a Champions Cup game for Northampton in Lyon back in 2020. But he slotted back into the role rather more recently, when Brive beat an Owen Farrell-less Top 14 Racing 92 in a pre-season friendly.
As he said in an interview with local newspaper La Montagne before Thursday’s outing: “[Being in the second row] doesn’t radically change the way I play on the pitch. I found my bearings in the match against Racing.”
Unsurprisingly, he’s still finding his feet at his new club. “I’m new here, I’m discovering things that I’ve never known before in my career,” he said. “So it’s also up to me to understand how the locker room works and not for others to adapt to me.”
The club’s manager Pierre-Hentheir own over the summer – are predicted to make an immediate return to the third-tier Nationale.
Montauban, who have undergone a complete coaching makeover after surviving the relegation play-off at the end of last season, are also tipped for the drop, either directly – three of the 16 managers who took part in the poll voted for them to finish bottom of the pile, compared to Nice’s 11 – or via the play-off.
More surprisingly perhaps, the ever-underestimated Aurillac, a side that routinely exceeds expectations and budget, are also in the managers’ relegation discussion, along with two sophomore season sides Dax and Valence-Romans.
Dax, remember, went from promotion to play-off in their first season back in the ProD2. Clearly, a number of coaches forecast a much more difficult second season for Jeff Dubois’ side.
That’s how ProD2 club coaches think the season will unfold. Reality kicks in now.
