RC Rougier with its sights set on the quarter-finals against Eauze

Camarès vise une qualification en quart de finale. Midi libre – Michel Durand

Camarès hosts the Gersois of Eauze this Sunday (3 p.m.) for the round of 16 of the Occitanie championship.

RC Rougier continues its adventure in the Occitanie challenge after narrowly beating (17-16) JS Iboscéenne. A match that the Camarésiens almost lost after several tactical errors in the second half despite a favorable wind and after having conceded a try in the first minute of play. A convincing victory against a solid visiting team which shown to be dangerous until the final whistle.

A demonstration during the last match

For this round of 16, the Camaresians, better ranked than their opponents, will once again play at home. The match will take place at the municipal stadium against the Gersois of US Eauze d’Armagnac. In the previous round, they qualified by winning largely with a score of (47-18) against SC Briatextois. A match during which the Gersois scored no less than five tries including two doubles from hooker Planté and center Martin with a scorer. Pontac particularly efficient (he managed five transformations and four penalties).

"We come to play a serious match"

A result that Bruno Blaya, the president of Eauze, minimizes: "Against Briatextes, we were at home. The weather was nice and everything worked out for us… We came to play a serious match. We are focused on this meeting."  He describes his team as "being homogenous, quite young and made up of local players". The club has a reserve and does not have no staffing problem. This year he improved his ranking by finishing sixth overall after a past season "more difficult".

"Avoid big mistakes" for Camarès

The Gersois are in a good dynamic to play against the Camaresians who will have the advantage of the field and are used to decisive matches in the final stages. Roland Roques, the Rougier coach, is relatively confident: "We will have to avoid big defensive errors like the one that cost us a try in the first minute of play. We had a few information and we will have to expect a team as solid as the one we beat last Sunday. There will be a fight. We will have to rely once again on our conquest which was particularly effective last weekend. On the other hand, we will have to be more humble in certain sectors of the game and above all more intelligent when it comes to occupying the field." The squad will be at full strength: "The best possible team capable of playing." Cottier and Valat are back for a match that promises to be intense at all levels.

The team: A. Félices-L. Valat-S. Cottier- G. Cambon – S. Nouvel- T. Reynès -A. Bernat -J. Saussol-W. Artières -R. Bousquel -B. Rivier- R. Dressayre- T. Vaissac- N Félices- J. Espitalier(C) R: A. Thomas- A. Gaven- Y. Cambon- B. Gaven- R. Girard- N. Gayraud