Millau, eye to eye with the leader

Notamment par la botte de Gauthier Escalais, Millau a rivalisé avec le leader héraultais. Archives T. C. Archives TC

Devant une belle affluence, avec de nombreux Millavois présents, le choc au sommet a tenu toutes ses promesses. Les Héraultais s’imposent 20-18 dans ce duel au sommet de la poule 3.

A duel between the first two under a violent wind! For this shock of the 20th day against Palavas (leader), Millau (2nd) suffered a first blow of fate with a try conceded and awarded despite an obvious passage into touch (6th)…

The Som did not let it count, however, scoring, following a devastating maul on a penalty kick, a try by Alexandre Bourrel (19th). With the help of the wind, Hugo Llorente, the local scorer, scored a 45-meter penalty in the corner (22nd), but then experienced two failures which made his team doubtful, prey to blunders.

Millau imposed its usual dynamic game and returned to 10-8 thanks to a penalty from Gauthier Escalaïs (24th). With a lot of scrums played and facing a more powerful opponent, Som was courageous and pleased its supporters by producing, as usual, a lot of play. 13-8 at the break after a penalty from Llorente (38th): the Millavois followers then believed in the feat, especially since the Aveyronnais were going to play with the wind at their backs after returning from the locker room. And very quickly, this hope was kept alive by Escalaïs on a penalty (43rd). The Som thus came back to two points. But in a lost scrum, Vuillecard packed a suitcase 40 meters to the sidelines and scored a killer solo try, which, transformed, brought the score to 20-11.

The match then decreased in intensity, but not the wind, which caused both teams to make numerous approximations and unforced errors. Millau, however, played his part and scored a magnificent try in the 68th minute by Gauthier Wadelle in support of Escais, who in this action maneuvered perfectly in the opposing defense. Millau once again came back to two short lengths, which promised a thrilling and intense end to the match.

To preserve the score, the RCM brought back its executives and faced with the opposing power, both in front and behind, the Millavois put on a good show and competed in the fight. But nothing more was marked after that. The Héraultais therefore won 20-18 in this duel at the top of group 3.

Given the joy of the locals at the final whistle, we can say that they felt the wind from the cannonball passing by and that the Aveyronnais were magnificent in their generosity and would have just as easily was able to win. It’s a certainty, the two best teams in the group faced each other yesterday and Millau once again proved that he doesn’ give up nothing on the outside, which promises for the final stages which are fast approaching.

Baptiste Majorel: “We are frustrated”

Som coach, Baptiste Majorel did not hide his disappointment: "We are frustrated, with a shared feeling between the satisfaction of knowing that we are really invited at this level, but also the fact that we lacked precision to be able to impose ourselves today."