Decoding. Pro D2: We persisted… How SU Agens defense allowed them to earn five points against Biarritz

Agen Stood Firm Defensively Against Biarritz

Rarely this season have we seen SU Agen with so few offensive weapons. Agen spent most of their time defending against a Biarritz team that made many attempts. “It was complicated. Of course, we prefer to have the ball, to keep it. But we were solid in defense. We showed that defensively, we were present, capable of pushing back the opponents. Even if they won some contacts, we stayed together, connected. We made significant efforts on long defensive sequences, and we held up well,” summarized Lucas Martins, one of the heroes of the match.

However, the start of the match hinted at a rather calm evening, with a clinical Sporting team securing the offensive bonus after more than half an hour of play. But Giorgi Nutsubidze’s try at the end of the first half, and especially the beginning of the second half by the Basques, disrupted Agen’s plans.

“We lacked precision. The problem was the first ten to fifteen minutes after halftime. We need to do better after the break because we were good before halftime. We need to keep playing,” regretted Ollie Cummins. Agen thus bent over.

On their merit, they did it well, never giving up, sometimes with a bit of luck, like on a last pass completely missed by Spring, when the try seemed certain (52nd minute). “We were frustrated. They were well-organized. We lacked energy in our ball handling, with runs to a stop and not sharp enough,” noted third-row Thomas Hébert.

Coach Boris Bouhraoua shared this sentiment. “We didn’t always play in the right areas. We could have played more around the rucks. We swept the field too much. We also didn’t manage to break the third line. We hesitated, and we didn’t play enough on the advantage line.” So, inevitably, “when you don’t score, you start thinking,” said Hébert.

Even with ball-in-hand situations, the Biarritz players, led by Clément Martinez, could not find a way through. Agen therefore held firm, deprived of possession, before securing an offensive bonus point with a final burst from Martins, resulting in a harsh but indicative scoreline.

Without convincing, Agen ensured the essentials. “The goal before the match was to have five points. It’s done, but we definitely lacked precision. In the second half, I don’t know how many times we entered their 22 meters without scoring,” noted Martins, before concluding: “We were really looking for a try because we were three tries to one. In the end, we couldn’t score, we lost possession, and we lacked patience. We need to work on precision in the scoring zone to then be freer and score more points.” Clearly an area for improvement for SUA. The theme of the week is now focused on Armandie ahead of the “final” against Oyonnax.