Perpignan tames the Toulouse leader and gives itself a breath of fresh air

2023-05-13 16:50:42

On behalf of the penultimate day of the championship, USAP offered a precious success against Toulouse (26-21).

Perpignan can breathe a sigh of relief after their victory this Saturday against the Toulouse leader (26-21). USAP initially made the round back before widening the gap in the first period. Patrick Arlettaz’s men finally won the standoff against Toulouse – deprived of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack – to finally win in their den of Aimé-Giral. A precious success with one day remaining and when Perpignan only had a four-point gap on Brive, last.

A breathless crossover

Under pressure, USAP was feverish at the start of the game and left the ball to Toulouse. Ugo Mola’s men missed two try chances by Marchand (2^e) then Lebel (8^e), returned in the in-goal. In the meantime, a try by Retière had been refused to the Rouge et Noir following a forward from Ainu’u. Following this long period of domination, Toulouse logically opened the scoring with a penalty from Ramos (9^e).

But that was without taking into account the immediate reaction of the Blood and Gold. Tedder first put his own on penalty (14^e) before McIntyre, well served after contact by Laborde, flattened the first try of the game (17^e). In a boiling Aimé-Giral stadium, the Perpignanais accelerated and Dubois, after a good game at the foot of his opener, also went queen (26^e). Annoyed, the Toulousains, already left behind, twice found their way to the in-goal through Lebel, on good bindings from Mallia and Retière (30^e). Less than five minutes later, Ramos, a trickster, extricated himself flush with a grouping then obliterated the last defender to reduce the mark.

Yet led by 14 points in the first period, Julien Marchand’s teammates were able to come back. To finally go ahead thanks to a penalty from Ramos from the start. What followed was just a remote duel between the two strikers. Ramos scored two penalties (46^e54^e) while his vis-à-vis passed three (45^e58, 64^e). Despite Toulouse’s attempts, Patrick Arlettaz’s men resisted to finally win against the Toulouse leader. An extremely precious success before the meeting of Brive against Castres this Saturday (5 p.m.) and a last day on May 28.