Rugby, National (2nd day): CA Périgueux triumphs over Nice (19-15)

CAP did more than just resist Nice this Friday evening. Brave and tenacious, the Périgourdins had a very good first half, taking the points straight away through Kotze (3rd), thus showing pragmatism against the Nice giants and their Pro D2 and Top 14 players. Better still, CAP ran out 6-0 winners before Williams equalized for Nice (6-3, 19th).

But Didier Casadéi's men always kept their opponents at bay, at least in the first half. The South African fly-half was flawless with his foot and Lambert's fine try (32nd minute) allowed CAP to extend their lead to 16-3 at halftime.

The CAP had a close call

The second half, on the other hand, was more difficult for the Périgourdins. And for good reason: after Borges' yellow card just before halftime, the CAP found itself down to 13 men (yellow card for Vieilledent, 44th). But even with a man down, Kotze gave his team a sixteen-point lead (19-3, 51st).

In difficulty, cornered in its own half and suffering the assaults of Nice, Périgueux took the blow and saw its opponent of the day score two tries, one from Duhau, passed by the CAP (54th) and another from Egiziano (67th). Nice then came dangerously close (19-15).

But the Périgourdins' bravery and self-sacrifice made Nice tremble. Three times, the CAP got away with it by forcing the Niçois to commit a foul. Kotze even had the chance to put himself a little out of harm's way but missed the penalty (81st).

With the clock still ticking, Bordenave kicked the ball out of bounds. From the throw-in, Nice continued to advance into the 22-meter line. The Rongiéras crowd continued to cheer the players on in a stifling atmosphere.

One last foul and Nice went into touch, but then committed a forward pass and CAP could raise their arms, victorious from this clash.

Technical sheet:

XV de Périgueux: Scholes, Camou, Lavernhe, Couturier (cap) (Neisen, 58th), Hickes, Kotze (o), Faltrept (m) (Bordenave, 55th), Lambert (Vidal, 40th), Lanen (Merigan, 20th), Rosenberg (Bouthier, 55th), Lavergne (Willemse, 46th), Vieilledent (Lavergne, 72nd), Tawaké (Pelmard, 39th), Lançon Falatea, 55th), Borges (Vidal, 65th) For Périgueux: 1 try from Lambert (32nd), 1 conversion from Kotze (32nd), 4 penalties from Kotze (3rd, 16th, 26th, 51st) Yellow cards: Borges (40th), Vieilledent (44th)

XV of Nice: Ortolan (Odiete, 65th), Duhau, Septar, Powell, Egiziano, Williams (o), Gimbert (m), Taufua (Dakuaqa, 51st), Berenguel, Sarrasin, Freytes (Vignolles, 58th), Murday (cap), Pupuma (Ciancio, 65th), Leafa (Barka, 58th), Gonzalez (Thompson-Stringer, 48th) For Nice: 2 tries from Duhau (54th), Egiziano (67th), 1 conversion from Williams (54th), 1 penalty from Williams (19th) Yellow card: Egiziano (30th)