Rugby: upset squad, defeats and “big bullshit”… The difficult start to the season for Massy in the National

2023-11-18 01:10:38

What is missing in Massy? ” The cat ! » We feel the disappointment in the words of the captain of the Essonne club, Alexandre Loubière. The Rugby Club Massy Essonne (RCME), relegated from ProD2 last year, got off to a bad start to its season in Nationale 1, the 3rd level of French rugby. After 10 days, a little more than a third of the championship, the Essonniens are 13th and penultimate, and have only 2 victories for 8 defeats. And a new difficult match is looming this Friday, against Albi, 4th in the standings, at 7:30 p.m. in Tarn.

So what happened so that the training club of Sekou Macalou or Cameron Woki, experienced in the close contests of the upper level, found itself suffering so much in the National? “The start of the season was complicated, not at all in terms of the status of a club like Massy,” agrees coach Jean-Baptiste Di Martino, who notably points to “a failed first block of matches”, with a group “ not at the level on the pitch and in the state of mind.”

Lack of leaders

First explanation: the departure of many players. With the descent, the Massicois lost half of their professional squad (24 players out of 47). And, among them, leaders in the locker room and on the field, like the historic captain Andrew Chauveau or the fly half Massimo Ortolan. “Leadership takes time to build,” explains Jean-Baptiste Di Martino.

But according to the Essonne coach, that is changing. “In the last matches, the state of mind is completely different,” he assures. The team responds in the fight. Our captain Alexandre Loubière has returned from injury and other leaders are asserting themselves, such as Samuel Nollet, Benjamin Prier or Victorien Jacomme. The group needed time to find balance and cohesion.”

“Big bullshit”

But that is still not enough. Massy remains stuck in a spiral of defeats: 5 in a row, all very short, by less than 6 points. The RCME has not won since the derby against Suresnes (36-25), during the 5th day at the end of September. Since then, its neighbor Hauts-de-Seine has followed the opposite trajectory, winning its matches in a row (3 victories in a row by less than 5 points) and getting closer to the top 6.

“It comes down to details,” recognizes Alexandre Loubière, who has regained his seriousness and does not just cite lack of luck. Jean-Baptiste Di Martino also regrets individual errors. “For 5 matches, we have been present but we only lose because of big, big stupidities,” he complains. We give gifts to the adversary. In Bourgoin last week (26-23 defeat), we made 18 mistakes. It’s just impossible to win. »

The coach now prefers to be positive: “Rugby-wise, we have nothing to envy of the other teams. We take points away. The club is not in danger,” he assures. Only the last (Vienna currently, 10 points behind Massy) will go directly to Nationale 2. The penultimate will play for survival at the end of the season in a play-off match. But Massy still has many matches to avoid such a scenario. “You have to win to enter into another dynamic,” concludes Jean-Baptiste Di Martino. It starts Friday in Albi.