Amateur rugby: “Among the English bookmakers, our odds must be enormous”, Rodez Rugby hosts Servian-Boujan in the 32nd final first leg

Un choc dès les 32es de finale. – MONTAGE SBR-RR

Best team in France in Federal 3, Servian-Boujan faces a young and ambitious team from Rodez, eager to regain its place at the top federal level.

With his chest out, he arrives in spring with arguments. Servian-Boujan Rugby, after a short stint in Federal 2, punctuated by a decline at the end of last season, was able to bounce back and rediscover the taste of victory.

In pool 8, the same as Vendres-Lespignan, Servian-Boujan flew through the debates, finishing the regular season with 17 victories and 1 defeat. An exceptional record of 82 points, ranking them best first nationally.

" We would have signed straight away to finish first nationally, if we had been told that at the end of last season ", says Adrien Aguiléra, manager of the Hérault club. To move forward, the club of co-presidents Santa and Montariol relied on a " hard core, with recruits who also did us good & quot;, specifies Aguiléra.

Sunday, for the first round of this 32nd final of Fédérale 3, the Serviano-Boujanais will make the two-hour journey that separates them from Rodez and its lair of Paul-Lignon. Third in group 9, behind Sor Agout and Lèguevin, the Ruthénois are gradually recovering, four years after the judicial liquidation of Stade Ruthénois.

A complicated draw

Now under the name Rodez Rugby, the Aveyron club has qualified for the final stages, for the second consecutive season. Defeated in the first round against Rivesaltes last season, the blood and gold have since healed their wounds.

" These matches were forgotten, we only had one objective, it was qualification ", explains Dominique Alaux, who arrived this year at the head of the RR workforce. However, all has not been rosy in the north of Aveyron this season, since the residents of the Paul-Lignon stadium, which they share with the RAF Ligue 2 players, were at sixth place at mid-season.

" We had a start to the season where we weren’not very consistent, with a setback or two at home that we then dragged on… ", notes the technician.
Finally third in the group after a more controlled end to the season, Rodez Rugby was not varnished in the draw, since it inherited, instead of a second, the best first in France. The fault of the geographical criteria inherent in the first round of the French championships.

"If’they’only lost one game all year, that’ rsquo;they are very strong"

"It’is a great team, playful and dynamic, which can count on a large stadium and great support, in a rugby city&quot ;, Aguiléra, the SBR coach, is wary. "If they’only lost one game all year, it’s because they are very solid, it will be interesting to gauge yourself", replies his Aveyron counterpart, aware that, to believe in the feat, it will be necessary to perform well at home, from Sunday .

"Among the English bookmakers, our odds must be enormous", jokes Alaux.
In ten days, after this confrontation, only one of these two contenders for the climb will remain.

I subscribe to read more