FCG beats Perpignan (20-10)
A big fight was announced on the lawn of the Stade des Alpes on Thursday evening, the 12,205 spectators present were served.
The Catalans took advantage of their superiority in the scrum to score the first points of the match on a penalty attempt (0-7, 21'). Before that, the Isèros were rather dominant, but failed to take advantage of their possessions in the opposing camp.
For a few minutes at 14 against 15, then 13 against 14 (Dylan Jacquot, then Jérôme Rey), the "Red & Blue" nevertheless reacted with a lot of determination. Enzo Selponi first reduces the gap on a penalty obtained on a carried ball (3-7, 31'), then FCG goes ahead on goal. Following a maul contested by the Perpignan defence, Alaska Taufa broke through the opposing defence. Leva Fifita followed up with a drive ball (10-7, 35').
The start of the second half was favourable to the visitors, but the Iberian defence was perfectly in place and prevented the USAP players from approaching the line. Then came the turning point: Gert Müller, Perpignan's substitute right-hand man, was injured, while Alex Brown, the starting right-hand man, was also injured. With no solution on the right, USAP had to simulate the scrum and finish the match at 14.
If they manage to draw level almost in the wake of this injury (10-10, 51'), the Perpignanese must leave the ball to the hosts. On the hour mark, the "Rouge & Bleu" camped in all 22 of their opponents and, after a sequence of several minutes of pillage from the goal line, Deon Fourie found a gap and scored (20-10, 65').
The last quarter of the match was a bit messier for the Grenoble side, who failed to make any headway against a very aggressive defence. The visitors will even have the opportunity to take the defensive bonus point at the end of the match, but the Grenoble line will be well guarded.
With this victory, FCG regain the lead of the Pro D2, looking forward to the Colomiers game this weekend. The Isèrois will travel to Montauabn next Friday, before hosting Biarritz and then moving on to Oyonnax for the most difficult block of the season.
Auteur : FCG Rugby