A performance that highlights the potential of the purple and black and places them back in the race for qualification in the final phase of the championship.
The trip to Valence d’Agen was met with apprehension by the Nice team after two home games that had raised more than a few doubts about the true value of Manu Boutet and Will Johnson’s XV. Additionally, the team had lost some players with the unexpected departure of Armitage and the young players Guarino and Galli.
Therefore, it was with “humility,” as the general manager Marc-André Doumergue stated on the eve of the trip, that the Nice team prepared for this away game, which many considered to be the turning point of a season that, so far, had not really taken off in terms of results.
And then came the pleasant surprise, a well-deserved victory (22-16) achieved at the end of a match well-controlled from start to finish. This success was built during the first half (19-6 at halftime) and defended in a somewhat chaotic finish, played with 13 men due to really severe refereeing sanctions.
Once again, it was the young local hopeful, Malavard, who scored nearly all the points, with a converted try and four penalties, making him the true marksman of this team.
But all the players deserve praise for this performance, which reignites Nice as one of the potential contenders for the top of the standings and especially for a place among the four chosen to advance to the final phase.
