Oyonnax favorite for the climb, Biarritz and Mont-de-Marsan vengeful
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Relegated after only one season in the elite, the BO wants to play the leading roles in Pro D2, which it will launch on Thursday evening against Oyonnax, one of the ambitious favorites in the championship with the revengeful Stade Montois.
Biarritz Olympique, whose FFR only released licenses on Tuesday “in exchange for a firm commitment” of the club to settle its accounts for the 2021/2022 season, comes out of a catastrophic season in the Top 14 (21 defeats in 26 matches). In the grip of internal quarrels with the Biarritz municipality, affected by the dramatic death of its emblematic ex-player Federico Martin Aramburu, the Basque club needs to turn the page.
Read alsoRugby: the FFR releases the licenses of Biarritz Olympique
He certainly let a few good players go, including Lucas Peyresblanques and Mathieu Hirigoyen at the Stade Français Paris, but he saw the arrival on loan of scrum half Baptiste Germain, former understudy of Antoine Dupont in Toulouse, as well as the center of the Welsh Scarlets, Tyler Morgan (5 caps with Wales between 2015 and 2018 ) and Australian winger or center Joe Tomane (17 caps with the Wallabies).
Behind the Basques, also upset to have seen their eternal rivals Aviron Bayonnais “snatch” their place in the Top 14, Mont-de-Marsan is also the big favorite after an almost perfect year 2021-2022. The Landes club, first in the regular season with 106 points, came up against Perpignan in a match for the accession to the Top 14 (41-16), enough to feed a lot of regrets.
In the offseason, Stade Montois lost its nugget, the scorer and scrum half Léo Coly, who signed up with Montpellier, the reigning French champion. At the start of their season, the Montois welcome Aurillac, which they struggled to get rid of in a friendly match (31-24) on August 12th.
Oyonnax, who failed in the semi-final against Bayonne (32-20) last year, is also a candidate for the rise, due to his regularity and the excellence of his training, which has seen the emergence of young talents such as Thomas Laclayat or Enzo Reybier, who were called up for the Blues summer tour in Japan. According to a survey of Pro D2 coaches and published by our colleagues from Noon Olympicthe “Oyomen” – who will also include Tongan second-line Stave Mafi in their ranks – are favorites for the title and the rise to the Top 14.
Read alsoMassy, the rugby nursery of Île-de-France
As for the promoted, Massy and Soyaux-Angoulême, they will have to show their fangs from the outset during the receptions, Friday, of Rouen for the Ile-de-France residents, and of Vannes for the Charentais. This first day will end with the trip to Agen, who is coming out of two complicated seasons (in Top 14 then in Pro D2), on the Provence Rugby field on Friday evening (9:00 p.m.) in Aix-en-Provence.
Program of the 1st day:
Thursday
9:00 p.m.
Biarritz – Oyonnax
Friday
7:30 p.m.
Massy – Rouen
Soyaux-Angouleme – Vannes
Grenoble – Beziers
Mont-de-Marsan – Aurillac
Colomiers – Carcassonne
Montauban-Nevers
9:00 p.m.
Provence Rugby – Agen
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