The season resumes this Sunday for Stade Niçois with the home match against Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël (3 PM at Stade des Arboras). After a promising first season (elimination in the round of 16), the team led by President Catoni aims for Fédérale 1. They will have to navigate a very competitive pool 4.
Yes, the season is back. Forty-eight hours after the start of the World Cup in England, it’s Stade Niçois’s turn to begin their season, which should lead them next May, if all goes well, to the quarter-finals of Fédérale 2, synonymous with promotion to the higher division. This is a medium-term objective following a first exploratory season, marked by a fourth-place finish in the regular season and elimination in the round of 16 by Rumilly by just one point in the first leg (25-25, 13-18 in the return leg).
To do better than last season, the squad of Gilbert Doucet and Ludovic Chambriard has undergone many changes. Thirteen departures and 11 arrivals are noteworthy (see squad in the inset). These recruits are important, according to specialists, both in the forwards and the backs. The Stade Niçois particularly struggled up front, coupled with a chronic lack of discipline.
But the season promises to be just as challenging as last year. Indeed, pool 4, as designated by the French Rugby Federation, is dense and competitive. Hyères-Carqueiranne and Tricastin are coming down from Fédérale 1 and will logically be candidates for promotion. We will also see Bédarrides and Chateaurenard, who posed problems for the Nice team last season. Two newcomers, Leucate and Nîmes, not to mention the neighbor, Fréjus-St-Raphaël, and the two teams promoted from Fédérale 3, namely Gruissan and Six Fours.
The first match is this Sunday against CARF (Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël) at Les Arboras before traveling to Bédarrides on Sunday the 27th.
2015-2016 Squad
Props: Akkaoui, Arif (ex-Clamart Rugby 92), Boussetta, Canizares, Lauret (ex-Leucate XV), Piorkowska (ex-Stade Rodez Aveyron)
Hookers: Commandeur, Soler
Second Row: Herjean, Laadila, Quarrie (ex-Union Sportive Romanaise), Cottet
Back Row: Demolder (ex-Section Paloise), Busuttil, Catoni, Hejtmanek (ex-RO Grasse), Mgeladze, Ormea (ex- Union Sportive Seynoise), Tambadou (ex-Bobigny Rugby 93), Wilkinson
Scrum-Halves: Musso, Sonetti, Lescoffier
Fly-Halves: Nègre, Maquaire, Tuifua (ex-Lille Métropole Rugby)
Centers: Medina (ex-Union Sportive Seynoise), Mège, Courteboeuf, Cutayar, Ouassiero (ex-Genevilliers Rugby)
Wingers: Girard, Parcheminer, Fatauli
Fullbacks: Fritz, Malavard
Departures: Cazanave (PUC), Dahbi (RO Grasse), Benstaali (AS Monaco), Derrstroff (SA XV Charente), Echabé (LMRC Villeneuve d’Ascq), El Ouertani (RC Vichy Rugby), Hahn (Cahors Rugby), Jaber (Stade Laurentin), Karp (not disclosed), Martin (CA St Raphaël Fréjus), Pivi (Stade Laurentin), Potin (retired), Roth (CS Bourgoin Jallieu).
