Rugby, Federal 1 (round of 16 first leg): Sarlat has burned a joker

CAS shot itself in the foot this Sunday afternoon, conceding a narrow defeat on its home turf in Goumondie, in the first leg of the round of 16 against Bagnères-de-Bigorre. However, everything had started well for the Sarladais. In these first minutes, they held their own and put the Bigourdans at fault. Mathé took advantage to open the scoring and even doubled the lead a few minutes later (6-0, 8th). But we must not forget that this Sarlat is promoted. And, in big matches, a lack of skill counts.

Hope was short-lived

Three times, CAS had a clear chance to try, but three times, they lost the ball just as they were about to convert. This was the case on the half-hour mark, when the visitors managed to scrape the ball back on their line. Not to mention that in the closed scrum, the Périgourdins were put to the test. This allowed the Pyrenees scorers to keep in touch (9-6, 25th). On the contrary, the Bigourdans played the perfect game on the outside, accepting to suffer in order to better control the pace. At the end of the first half, they took a penalty by hand that sent the flanker Gayri into goal (9-13, halftime).

After the break, the same scenario unfolded, with two more hot balls lost just a few yards from the in-goal area by the Cassistes. With fifteen minutes to go, Mathé gave his team renewed hope by bringing them back to within one point (12-13, 64th). But that hope was short-lived. Following that, the opposing full-back restored his team's four-point lead. Sarlat went for broke but had to settle for the defensive bonus point. Now it's time for revenge for last weekend.