Rugby union: RC Les Angles, “little brother” of RC Nîmes

Aux Angles, Alexandre Nierat, qui a disputé plus de 200 matches sous le maillot du RCN, retrouvera ses deux frères et d’autres anciens Nîmois. Midi Libre – Mathilde Arnoux

À l’instar d’Alexandre Nierat et Damien Pichard, recrutés par le club du Gard Rhodanien, de nombreux joueurs rejoignent le RCAGR à la fin de leur aventure nîmoise. Explications.

Baptiste Nierat, Mathieu Roca, Michaël Chiker and, again, Paul Oliver. In recent years, several players from the Nîmes Rugby Club have headed to the Rhône and the Angles club. A trend which is confirmed again this off-season since the RCAGR has recruited Alexandre Nierat, pillar in more than two hundred meetings with the RCN, and scrum half Damien Pichard.

Hence this somewhat provocative question, we admit: has the Rhone club become the cemetery of the Nîmes bullfighters, their retirement home? A chambering which made some smile, annoyed others, like the former Nîmes captain Mathieu Roca, who found the question &quot ;derogatory or even disrespectful".

A perfect destination "to challenge yourself again"

With a touch of humor, Baptiste Nierat, above all, specifies that "the players in question are not that old  hellip;" The one who will play, for his greatest pleasure, alongside his two brothers, Clément and Alex, after having already done so in Nîmes, hastens to add: “A retirement home, you go there to rest. This is not our case in Les Angles. With its history, its evolution, its structure, its ambition, this club is perfect for players who have known the great years of Nîmes (the great adventure from Fédérale 3 to Nationale 2, Editor's note) and who still want to challenge themselves and have great seasons."

The high-level experience sought

Words that the RCAGR coach, Laurent Mattera, necessarily approves of, he who has known the stands of the Nicolas-Kaufmann stadium well, as a player and coach. "In our objective of moving up to Federal 1 in the medium term, he explains, we first sought, last year, players like Mathieu Roca, Michaël Chiker or Paul Oliver to bring us all their high-level experience. The arrival, next season, of Alexandre Nierat will also participate, as will that of Damien Pichard who will, without a doubt, bring us explosiveness and dynamism. And a vengeful spirit, too."

Living in harmony

Experienced players, elements who want to get back on track and local young people, this is the policy of the English club. "In Nîmes, reports Baptiste Nierat, we experienced rigor, with the ambition of returning to the highest level of French amateur rugby. We achieved this through work but also and above all through the pleasure and joy of being together on and off the field. We weren't the best rugby players but we were united."

Laurent Mattera, who validates these words, specifies for his part that "the two clubs, which do not play at the same level, appreciate each other and, above all, must live in good harmony, as they knew how to do, at one time, with the youth teams within the framework of the Elite Gard" gathering. For the RCAGR coach, a certainty in conclusion: "The stronger RC Nîmes is, the more there will be repercussions for Les Angles! "

A quarter-final of the French Federal 3 championship will take place on Sunday June 16 at 3 p.m. at the Roger-Pagès des Angles stadium. It will pit the Ariégeois of Saverdun against the Isérois of Saint-Jean-de-Bournay. I subscribe to read more