The sun was shining over Arboras, but another guest was present as well—a strong wind that was poised to benefit the people of Nice just after Claude Lacaze, a former Lourdes international who had adopted Nice as his home, kicked off this semifinal. The team from Azure took the lead, opening both the debate and the scoring with a penalty by Josselin Lapierre after an initial phase of Nice dominance. The game balanced out, and the Lourdes team started to show some mettle, trying their hand at wide play to counter Eole’s gusts. Following a great scrum exit and backline play, the red and blue were caught off-guard by a well-positioned Julien Roman who intercepted the ball, scoring in the Lourdes in-goal area. Lapierre converted before slotting another penalty seconds later, giving the locals a 13-point lead. Everything was going well for the Nice team, and the score soon got a bit steeper with a new try by Youssouf Dramé, which, this time, Lapierre did not convert.
At 18-0, the Lourdes team was down but not out, and their efforts were soon rewarded after an offensive push within the Nice 22 meters. The visiting forwards settled close to the Nice in-goal area, and it was ultimately Bertrand Igau who crossed the line to narrow the score, although his try was not improved by the conversion. The play became choppier, and the first skirmishes harked back to the old Nice-Lourdes clashes. Josselin Lapierre had two more chances to extend the lead with penalties, but the Nice fly-half couldn’t master the wind, and halftime approached with the score at 18-5. Yet the agility and speed of Youssouf Dramé meant one more try in the promised land before returning to the locker rooms. The conversion was missed by Lapierre, and halftime was finally blown at 23-5 in favor of Nice.
Back on the Arboras green rectangle, the Nice team played against the wind, and the tension escalated. Yellow cards began to appear, and both teams quickly found themselves reduced to fourteen before the first flurry of substitutions. The Lourdes team played better with the wind’s assistance, but the Nice defense held strong, much to the delight of the onlookers. The only small blot on their copybook was a try by Soucaze, rewarding the red and blue’s tenacity and bringing the score to 23-10, with the conversion missing the Nice posts. As minutes ticked by, the scent of the final became much more pronounced, especially when Josselin Lapierre added three points with a precisely adjusted penalty against the wind, bringing the score to 26-10.
The chronometer on the Arboras scoreboard didn’t display the tens of minutes, and the spectators’ eyes were glued to their watches or mobile phones for the final countdown. Just a few minutes remained, and spirits continued to flare from one camp to another, but the scoreline remained unchanged until the final whistle, sending the Azureans to the French Federal 1 championship final against a Lavaur team Nice had already encountered in the qualifying pool with one victory apiece. A decisive match that would decide the title!
Photo Credit: Jeff Bianchi
