After their home victory against Chambéry (23-14), Stade Niçois, led by David Bolgashvili, won away against the club Massy (16-22). This is their second consecutive win since the start of the season, making it two wins in four matches.
First away victory in Nationale for Nice this season. Still unbeaten since the start of the championship, the Azurean rugby club has redeemed itself from its first two draws and continues with another success. Three more points in the standings, even if everything doesn’t seem perfect in the game yet.
Matthew James sets the example
Who else but the New Zealand fly-half to open the scoring. After the first 10 tense minutes, Matthew James (Nice) strikes first with a penalty (0-3, 10th). But the Massy players catch up on the scoreboard a little less than a quarter of an hour later (3-3, 22nd).
Then James is in action again. Five meters from the locals’ try line, the Niçois, with a numerical advantage, break through Massy’s defense and James manages to ground the ball. Try for Stade Niçois in the 32nd minute. An action concluded by the conversion from the number 10’s boot.
Despite a yellow card given to Joketani Koroi (Nice), the visitors strike again. After a ball is stolen and recovered by winger Matthieu Bonnet-Gonnet, center Julien Fritz finishes the action in the try zone. Second try for the Southern team but this time James misses the conversion. Half-time is whistled with the score of 6-15 after a last successful penalty for Massy.
Nice gets scared but makes up for it
Five minutes after the restart, Massy comes within two points of the Niçois thanks to a converted try (13-15, 45th). The situation seems to worsen for the team led by Paul Champin, especially as James misses another penalty and right winger Pacôme Gougeon also receives a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.
But Stade Niçois, playing with 14 against 15, doesn’t plan to stop there. Starting from a scrum five meters from Massy’s try line, the Azureans manage to score their third try of the game. With James’s flawless conversion, the men in red lead 13-22.
A final penalty in favor of the Massy club allows the locals to earn the defensive bonus. The referee whistles the end of the match, Nice therefore wins 16-22 away and finds itself in 7th place in the standings. A second consecutive victory for Stade Niçois, enough to bring smiles to the players and staff. There is still work to be done to correct small mistakes that could prove crucial in the end.
In the next round, Nice will travel to Aubenas, the runner-up to the current leader of Nationale, Bourg-en-Bresse. A match that promises to be even more challenging than the previous ones.
