This Sunday (3 p.m.), Stade Niçois will travel to Châteaurenard for the 17th and penultimate day of the regular season. Sitting in third place, Gilbert Doucet’s men are on a four-game winning streak. But the goal for the end of this season is to finish in the top two positions to open up the final phase bracket.
Two games, 160 minutes to complete the task and achieve the second objective after qualifying for the final stages. In its first year in Fédérale 2, Stade Niçois, with its significant financial resources, could achieve an initial feat, reaching the round of 16 and dreaming of promotion.
“The first objective is almost fulfilled. As the season went on, we got the hang of Fédérale 2. We believe there’s more to achieve than just a final phase, we’ve caught the bug. We’ll do everything to secure that second place which offers an advantage (return match at home) going forward,” admits Romain Catoni, captain of Stade Niçois.
The very good and the less good
With a high-flying return phase (5 wins in 7 matches), Stade Niçois has drawn closer to the top of Pool 3 and confirms its short-term ambitions of moving up to Fédérale 1. The recent encounters have been uneven, as demonstrated by the wild match in Monteux (winning 117-7) but also two narrow victories against teams fighting to avoid relegation (19-10 at Aubagne, 23-17 against Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël).
A Stade Niçois team that is still far from showing its true potential, is this a positive sign before the final stages? “I won’t hide it, I put the players under a lot of pressure. So far, we’ve played rather satisfying matches, the season is good. The only question mark remains our games against the top-ranked teams where we haven’t been brilliant,” regrets manager Gilbert Doucet.
No room for complacency
Beware of this Châteaurenard team that is fighting for its place among the top four (6th, 4 points from qualifying) and has made a specialty of toppling the “big ones.” At home, they notably recently defeated the leader Grasse (22-10) and remain unbeaten in their stronghold.
“We’re going to face two rivals who are of similar stature. Châteaurenard is in search of points for final phase qualification. To qualify, we would need two points. If we take four points, we’ll be in a better position. And if we win against Vienne, we could finish in second place. We have two rounds of 16 in fifteen days,” explains the Nice coach.
A “final phase” match followed by another three weeks later against Vienne, runner-up to Grasse in the standings, with the stakes being that coveted second place.
Photo credit: Stade Niçois
