Usap – MHR: by winning largely against Perpignan, Montpellier breaks down a barrier

Domingo Miotti tente de stopper la charge catalane avec le soutien de ses partenaires : le MHR a fait chuter les Catalans. Dorian Cayuela

Montpellier imposed itself with authority against Usap (7-26) this Saturday, September 14 at the Raoul-Barrière stadium in Béziers and offered itself a little serenity.

A banner does not make a stadium, even less an atmosphere. The one unfurled by the Catalan supporters marked “Here is Aimé-Giral” was not enough to trigger the Perpignan fury. Unless it was the Montpellier residents who, little by little, extinguished a crowd that nevertheless came in large numbers to fill the stands of Raoul-Barrière, this Saturday in Béziers. So much so that sometimes we could no longer hear the “Oh! Pétard” of the handful of MHR supporters.

It must be said that the Héraultais took the trouble to undermine the morale of the Usapistes. Joan Caudullo had insisted on the desire and investment of his players, somewhat absent against Lyon, to go and get something against Usap. The message clearly got through and got through well.

Usap paid for realizing this. “We were beaten for 80 minutes. I am ashamed. Well done to Montpellier. They beat us up, constantly, every collision is lost, we lost territory, possession. “We came up against a team stronger than us”, soberly sums up Franck Azema, the Perpignan coach.

A few months ago, the Catalans had made the GGL Stadium their home, this Saturday, they failed to settle into the Béziers stadium. Perpignan never managed to give their fans the energy to start their match. Whereas the MHR showed determination at all costs. In these 10 minutes at the end of the first half, for example, the symbol of a match where they put all their heart into defending every inch of the pitch. Ten minutes that turned this match around. Before that, Montpellier built its lead stone by stone with a try from Tambwe (11th) and the points at the feet of Coly and Miotti whose understanding, for a first, seemed perfect (read opposite).

“The players' victory”

And even when the scrum-half got excited about the last ball before the break, the MHR saved a penalty to give themselves a 16-point lead. It seems that Saturdays follow one another but are never the same.

“Against Lyon, we didn't have those ingredients. We knew that against a team like Perpignan, defense was the key to the match, but beyond that, there are all the attitudes. It starts there", smiled Arthur Vincent at the end of this fight.

A fight that the MHR won by technical knockout. “It's the players' victory, concedes Joan Caudullo. When you have an outpouring of energy of this standard, it's complicated to reproach them for something!”

Indeed, Montpellier's performance was complete, concluded by this scrum which pushes that of Usap on its own line to allow Bécognée to score the last try. Like a dot on the i's of a team in the hard after the first day. And who intends to see doubts fly away.

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