The locals prevail with zeal against a lackluster Nice team.
The black-and-purple forwards were outclassed by their opponents, while the three-quarters played a nervous and shallow game.
It was known that a derby demands a lot of courage, and the one between Nice and Grasse seemed like a last chance for the locals, given their standings as the very bottom of the table, to find a reason to hope for a hypothetical retention in Fédérale 1 at the season’s end.
For Nice, victory was not so imperative, but it was nevertheless recommended to stay close to the group leaders in a qualifying position. And especially against the team at the bottom of the standings, which had already conceded home victories.
But a derby is a different kind of match, and once again the prediction was defied. Ultimately, it was Grasse who, deservedly, got the 4 points of victory, and Nice even missed, at the last minute, the chance to obtain the defensive bonus point with a fairly easy penalty missed by Malavard (who had nonetheless previously succeeded with four much more difficult attempts).
It was an afternoon of suffering for the Nice forwards, who were outclassed in the scrum by their opponents and forced to commit a series of technical mistakes costing them 2 penalty tries (!) and 2 white cards, as well as numerous penalties, almost all fortunately missed by the Grasse kickers, without which the score would no doubt have been much heavier.
A match to quickly forget as the Nice team was disappointing and lacked pride. Time to ask some questions about the rest of the season: does Nice have the capacity to play leading roles? Not speaking of the team’s potential, which seems indisputable, but of the reality on the field.
As for today’s match… one needs to quickly turn the page and move on to preparing for another crucial match, next Sunday’s at Blagnac (another heavyweight of the group), which Nice will have to play without their fly-half Mark McHugh, who left with a shoulder injury.
This Sunday, December 12 at Stade Perdigon:
RO Grasse- Rugby Nice CA 20-12 (10-6)
For Nice: 4 penalties by Malavard
For ROG: 2 penalty tries + 2 conversions + 2 penalties
