After their defeat against Narbonne, Stade Niçois needed to react during their home game with Bourgoin. With a special thought for their friend James Lasis…
The players of Stade Niçois finally returned to the field after an extremely difficult period. While James Lasis is still in the hospital, the Azuréens were facing Bourgoin (11th). Naturally, Matthew James’ teammates had their friend in mind. They wore a t-shirt in tribute to their teammate during the warm-up.
Against the wind, Bourgoin-Jallieu appeared very playful, but the Niçois were in place defensively. On their first incursion into the opponent’s 22m, the Azuréens were close to the first try. The visitors committed a foul, and the flanker Kevin Chaudouard received a yellow card. But it was finally on a turnover that the locals made a difference. The ball was passed to Sakiusa Bureitakiyaca on the wing. The Fijian winger scored the first try after a superb 40-meter run (7-0, 14th minute). The start of the match remained balanced, and the visitors reduced the gap with a penalty from Florian Lavaux (7-3, 23rd minute).
In this first period, Stade Niçois showed patience. On a penalty line-out, the Azuréens’ forwards put their opponents to the test. The ball was spread to the short side. Gougeon was tackled a few meters from the line, but Agustin Ormaechea followed through. The Uruguayan scrum-half slipped in to score the second try for his team (14-3, 27th minute). Now on the move, David Bolgashvili and Martin Jagr’s charges continued to accelerate. The flanker Jonathan Mace scored a forceful try for the bonus point (21-3, 34th minute). After about twenty sluggish minutes, the Niçois engine was running, well led by their forwards.
Bourgoin-Jallieu remained just as playful, perhaps even too much so. The Azuréens seized on a lost ball by the Berjalliens to cross the field in no time. At the end of this long action, the New Zealand center Parataiso Silafai-Lea’ana already clinched the fourth try (28-3, 37th minute). But the visitors did not give up. After a penalty line-out, the forwards pushed forward. The Niçois prop Sunia Vola committed a fault, and the referee awarded a penalty try (28-10, 39th minute). Vola also received a yellow card. Despite this, at half-time, Stade Niçois was heading for a bonus-point victory.
A well-managed second half
With a numerical advantage, Bourgoin-Jallieu started the second half with a bang. The Isère scrum gained the upper hand, forcing Nice to commit fouls. From 22m almost in front of the posts, Lavaux didn’t falter (28-13, 42nd minute). The absence of Vola was costly for the Azuréens. The visitors earned another scrum penalty. From 22m at an angle, Lavaux further reduced the margin (28-16, 48th minute). The start of the second period was challenging for the Niçois, short of possession and under pressure. But, like in the first period, they required few opportunities to succeed.
After Nicolas Tachat caught a line-out in two attempts, play unfolded on the Azuréens side. Ormaechea perfectly opened the gap for Bureitakiyaca. The Fijian winger, launched at full speed, went on to score his second personal try after a long 40-meter run (35-16, 51st minute). This try was a hammer blow to the Berjalliens. Nice seized the opportunity. On a penalty line-out, the forwards put their team on the front foot. The ball was eventually spread to Silafai-Lea’ana. Launched at pace, the center was unstoppable. He also seized the chance to score his second try of the game (42-16, 55th minute).
After a quickly taken free-kick, Silafai-Lea’ana once again pierced through the opposing defense. The ball exits were swift, leading to Nicolas Tachat scoring the seventh try for the Azuréens (47-16, 68th minute). Bourgoin-Jallieu desperately wanted to salvage some pride. Nice committed a foul, and the second-row Richard Fourcade received a yellow card. However, the Niçois were relentless on defense. They even increased their lead with another try, by center Julien Fritz (54-16, 79th minute). Towards the end of the game, Gougeon received a yellow card. With a two-man advantage, Bourgoin saved some pride with a try from Théo Lepage (54-23).
With this bonus-point win (54-23), Stade Niçois retained their spot in the top three. The Azuréens will host Dijon next week, with the support of the crowd. With a win against the Dijon team, the teammates of Matthew James would secure their place in the semi-finals of this Nationale championship at Stade des Arboras.
Reaction:
Agustin Ormaechea (scrum-half for Stade Niçois): “We prepare each match as a final. We want to enjoy ourselves. We knew that Bourgoin was playing without pressure. They had come to enjoy themselves. We had more pressure than they did because we needed results to hope for a semi-final at home. We are coming off a three-week break, with Covid cases. It’s good to be playing rugby again. We did some nice things, and we are happy. We talked a lot amongst ourselves about James Lasis’s injury. We wanted to do it for him. He is someone who fights for others, someone very generous, so we wanted to be like him. He would have loved to see us play. We know he will pull through, he is very strong, and we want to be like him on the field.”
