Stade Niçois continues its unbeaten streak at home after its victory against Vienne (31-9). They take advantage of Albi’s defeat to lead the pool.
Stade Niçois started its season this Saturday against the bottom team in the league, Vienne. It was an opportunity for the Niçois to continue their unbeaten streak at home. The match began intensely in this clash of opposites. It was the Viennois who opened the scoring thanks to a penalty from their fly-half, Charles Hager. But to give their opponent no chance to take off, the red and blacks responded with a try from center Luca Cutayar three minutes later. The score was then (7-3) thanks to the conversion by number 10 Mathis Viard. In a first half where Alexandre Compan’s men set the pace, they managed to find the gap once more. It was winger Gauthier Lacointa who, after a 10-meter break, dotted down the second try of the match. This time the conversion missed, and the score was (12-6), then (12-9) after another penalty was conceded.
This season, the Niçois are averaging 2.5 tries per match and as the saying goes, “never two without three,” they scored another try through the other center Nathan Coutarde. Three tries to zero, and the third-place team respected the hierarchy, leading (19-9) at halftime. Note that the Niçois finished the first half with 14 against 15 after Bastien Berenguel received a yellow card.
The match tightens
As Stade Niçois returned with the same intentions, those were subdued by a red card received by Luca Cutayar in the 48th minute, after a head contact during a fend-off. Everyone then expected the momentum to shift. However, nothing changed and Nice controlled the match as if they still had 15 players. The score didn’t change until the 60th minute with a try from Bastien Berenguel in the right corner of the in-goal area. He secured the offensive bonus point and allowed his team to extend their lead. They concluded this offensive display with a try from Arthur Vignolles, his first of the season, and a conversion from substitute Romain Riguet.
Stade Niçois won (31-9) without faltering, a good outcome that allowed them to take the lead in the pool. They benefited from Albi’s misstep against Bressane. The next meeting is next week at Arboras against Tarbes.
