Nice won on Sunday at the last minute in Blagnac (15-12) thanks to a magnificent 62-meter penalty by Adrien Malavard. This victory allows the team, led by general manager Marc-André Domergue (promoted to team physiotherapist for the occasion!) and coach Manu Bouteur, to now rank third in the Pool 2 standings, with 31 points.
A makeup match from the 9th day, this trip to Blagnac was expected to be delicate given the quality of the opposing team. In fact, the first half was intense and of a good level. As both formations managed to neutralize each other’s strengths, but given that the Nice scrum was still able to establish a certain dominance, captain Eric Espagno and his team went into the break leading 6-0 following two penalties by Malavard (3rd and 35th).
Even though Blagnac managed to equalize within the first quarter of an hour of the second half, Nice stayed in the game. Arnaud Mathet, playing fly-half in Mc Hugh’s absence, added three more points for the Azuréens (55th), even though they were trailing 12-9 entering the last five minutes of the match.
Mathet, once again, equalized with a penalty in the 77th minute. On the restart, after a few phases of play, the Blagnac players committed a foul. And Malavard, with a phenomenal kick of over 60 meters (62, exactly), secured a hard-fought victory for his team.
With 7 wins in 11 matches, Nice is level with Béziers and Mautauban in terms of net results at the end of this first half of the season. The Niçois can now enjoy a few days of vacation before resuming in 2011 with two important matches: an away game at Graulhet and a home game against La Seyne-sur-mer, for a derby that promises to be exciting.
Note that the Fédérale 1B team was defeated 18-7 in the preliminary match.
Source and photo credit: www.rnca.fr
