After their home victory last week against Olympique Marcquois, Nissa Rugby was defeated tonight by Racing Club Narbonnais (31-20) at the end of a thrilling match where this Mediterranean clash lived up to its expectations.
Perfectly tied in the ranking before kickoff, Racing Club Narbonnais and Nissa Rugby engaged in a fierce battle with the objective of taking the first place in the championship. An anticipated clash that delivered on all its promises. The Maralpins started their match well, holding the Narbonnais before succumbing to the offensive onslaughts of the orange and blacks in the second half.
From the kick-off and the first minutes, both teams engaged in a tactical duel where observation was key, each trying to gauge their strengths and weaknesses.
Very quickly, the Maralpins, well-organized in defense, became enterprising and put pressure on the ball-carrier, capitalizing on the Narbonnais’ technical errors.
The scrums followed one another, and the Niçois concretized their good match start, pushing the orange and blacks to error in the scrum, with the Narbonne pack collapsing. Penalty. Owen Williams took his chance and opened the score (0-3).
The Racing Club Narbonnais quickly responded in the 16th minute during a collective action concluded by Muller, who crossed the Nice goal line. The try was converted by the Narbonnais, reclaiming the lead (7-3).
No time to breathe, Nissa Rugby immediately responded. In the 20th minute, after a penalty kick played 5 meters from the Narbonne goal line, a rolling maul allowed their hooker Pat Leafa to score a try through a beautiful collective action, taking back the lead on the scoreboard (7-10).
A tight end to the first half
The match continued at a frenetic pace with both teams answering blow for blow. In the 26th minute, Narbonne obtained a penalty and drew level (10-10).
In the 30th minute, Nissa Rugby secured another penalty kick 5 meters from the Narbonne goal line. Two minutes later, Owen Williams scored another penalty, putting the Niçois back in front (10-13).
A short-lived advantage as in the 36th minute, Narbonne responded once again. After a rapid sequence of actions, the Audois crossed the goal line once again, scoring their second converted try, allowing Narbonne to reclaim the lead just before the break (17-13).
The Maralpins fail to reverse the trend
Returning from the locker rooms, following a Narbonne fault, the referee awarded a penalty to the Niçois, giving them the opportunity to reduce the score and trail the orange and blacks by just one point, but Owen Williams missed his attempt.
In the 48th minute, following a poor Nice pass, the Audois intercepted and recovered the ball with Peter Betham running 80 meters to ground the ball behind the Nice try line. The Narbonnais converted it, thereby taking the lead in the match (24-13).
An advantage that would be maintained throughout the match as the Maralpins were unable to regain the lead.
Determined to respond, the Niçois settled in the Narbonne half and intensified their pressure. In the 60th minute, they managed to reduce the gap with a try from Flavio Asquini, converted by Owen Williams (24-20).
Just after Nissa Rugby’s try, a foul in the course of play reduced the Narbonne XV to fourteen, seeing them incur a yellow card for the next ten minutes. However, the Niçois were unable to reorganize and increasingly suffered from the play and offensive assaults of Racing Club Narbonnais.
In the 63rd minute, the Niçois conceded a try, bringing the score to 31-20 in favor of their opponent of the day. The score would remain unchanged, Nissa Rugby was defeated.
With this defeat (31-20), Nissa Rugby missed the opportunity to take first place in the standings. Gareth Baber’s men will need to quickly regroup before hosting Albi next Saturday, November 22 at 6 p.m.
