A week after its resounding draw at Munster (17-17), Bayonne missed its first steps in the Champions Cup on Friday evening in its not completely full Jean-Dauger lair, losing by a small point to the Scots from Glasgow ( 12-11). Manager Grégory Patat had warned that he was using this competition “to make rotations and combinations that could serve us in the Top 14”. But the Ciel et Blanc tried everything to snatch victory in the last sequence with more than fifteen minutes of play, stopped for a ball kept on the ground under opposing pressure and sanctioned by the English referee Adam Leal, released under a beautiful bronca.
In front of theirs, they therefore came very close to a success more symbolic than prestigious which could have placed them comfortably in this group 3 dominated by Northampton, winner at the same time of Toulon (22-19). Infuriating. As announced, Grégory Patat made ten changes at kick-off compared to the team which had left the Red Army speechless. A healthy emulation for this club accustomed “to taking challenges in the Challenge Cup” recalled Maxime Machenaud last Saturday after the performance at Thomond Park, throwing into oblivion Coubertin’s famous motto on the importance of participating.
“At the very high level, it doesn’t exist,” continued the scrum half, a three-time finalist in the event with Racing 92. In Bayonne, each match begins with the Peña Baiona, the house anthem which even resonated in the stadiums. pubs in Limerick last week, played this Friday evening two minutes early to make room for the official music of the Champions Cup, new to Jean-Dauger, when the players enter.
“It’s something that we’ve been waiting for for a long time here,” points out Mickaël Moïta, co-president of the BOC (Bayonnais of Certified Origin) supporters club. We had the chance to hear him for the first time in our lives as a Rowing supporter in a legendary stadium in Munster. Hearing it from Jean-Dauger is just a bonus.” Playing without pressure against these Scots beaten at home in the opening by Northampton (28-19), the teammates of captain Denis Marchois responded tit for tat to the pace set from the start by the Warriors, like Junior Tagi, heavyweight with golden hands or the elusive Nadir Megdoud, author of a magical 60-meter recovery lifting the Olé, but overtaken by Ally Miller on the first visitor try (38).
The Basques were then ahead in the score (8-7) thanks to a penalty from Camille Lopez and a try from Facundo Bosch behind a carried ball (34th). The orgy of play of the first act was less significant after the break. Need to breathe, to think more about winning the match to stay alive in the group for one, to stay in the race for the other.
The scrums, to the advantage of Glasgow, followed touches, very often pilfered by Bayonnais who unfortunately gave in at the end to Josh McKay (11-12, 57th). Failing to have materialized, especially during the first half, Rowing had difficulty approaching the opposing line before the famous last sequence. She had two opportunities to regain control of the score but Reece Hodge, Australian international with 63 caps, missed his two very distant penalty attempts (65, 75).
