After its Top 14 victory against Pau, Montpellier is on the path to redemption

Montpellier et Alexandre Bécognée ne sont pas encore sortis de la zone rouge. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

Le succès contre la Section Paloise (22-17), samedi 28 janvier, a permis aux Montpelliérains de se rapprocher de leurs concurrents pour le maintien, mais pas de quitter la dernière place. 

Montpellier has not left the rut, but is starting to see the light again. On Saturday, against Pau, Patrice Collazo's men scored a second success in a row in the Top 14, after that against Toulon (27-17), on January 7. "It’s night and day compared to two months ago, notes the Hérault manager. We create things, we play complete rugby…" Before continuing: "But in taking stock of the outward phase, we must understand that in the return phase, everything will count. We lost two matches, Lyon and Treviso, there are two red crosses on the roadmap, says Collazo.

La flèche Arthur Vincent ⚡️ https://t.co/gubrt00DWd

— Montpellier Rugby (@MHR_officiel) January 29, 2024

Same story with pillar Enzo Forletta. "Compared to the start of the season, the results of the six matches (in the Top 14, Editor's note) are positive, but it’s disappointing away from home, analyzes the Catalan. There are points that we could have picked up and which are important. We lacked awareness at this level. When you play to maintain, you have to play everything, it's going to be a battle until the end. You have to find this trigger for the return phase."

It is true that mid-championship, the spoils collected by the Montpellier away team are more than meager. Just one small defensive bonus point collected in Lyon and that’s it. Too little to get your head above water. The MHR could also have aimed for two offensive bonuses during its last two outings at the GGL. He held it against Toulon, before conceding a try. Against Pau, it was his lack of realism that cost him this extra point. "It’s hard when you end up in the goal four times without scoring, it makes you doubt, concedes Enzo Forletta. That may have made us a little nervous for the end of the match…"

"We still have a lot of work"

Halfway through, the MHR managed to right the course of a boat which was pitching severely towards the Pro D2. "We finished the first leg with three home victories against teams at the top of the table, from the top 6. Those are points that count", positive Patrice Collazo. But he has not yet managed to reach the shore and get out of this cursed red zone, in which he has been stuck since the third day.

"We want to continue to move forward, we are progressing, but we are not yet out of this last place, notes Arthur Vincent. It's going to be a big battle. We know that it will happen by grabbing as many points as possible to get out of the red zone and not give up. We still have a lot of work to do, we're going to give it our all."

Arrived two months ago, the new staff has started their maintenance operation quite well. If the road is not yet clear, at least it has cleared up on several points. However, more arguments will be needed to allow Montpellier to regain serenity. This is the challenge of the second part of the season.

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