ASBH, Pro D2: facing Nice, the bottom of the table, Béziers wants to avoid the trap

Pierre Courtaud and the Béziers team know that they will have to deliver a full match against a promoted Nice team that plays without complexes away from home.ui Midi Libre – Michael Esdourrubailh

Friday January 10 (7:30 p.m., Raoul-Barrière stadium), third in the standings, Béziers hosts Nice, the last.  "On paper", the Béziers team are therefore announced to be a notch above. However, they are wary of this promoted team capable of performing away from home.

Hit hard from the start. That's the best thing to wish the Béziers team for the new year and their duel against Nice, this Friday, January 10, at the Raoul-Barrière stadium (7:30 p.m.). Having left for vacation with a defeat in Mont-de-Marsan, where they suffered defensively (47-32), they must show, once again, that they are among the big names in the championship. At the risk of slipping off the podium of a ranking that is as tight as a good pair of crampons, with only two points separating Béziers from Dax, in sixth place.

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The figures and statistics in Béziers' favor

The numbers and statistics are largely in ASBH's favor. Since the start of the season, Nice has been stuck at the bottom of the table, having won only three matches in fifteen days. Not great. Except that the Niçois have recorded two of their three victories away, in Agen and Aurillac. The Biterrois therefore remain particularly cautious about playing this match which is shaping up to be a trap, while at the start of the year, the counters are partially reset to zero for all the teams going back to war: “Everyone has rested, cleared their minds and these matches after a break are always complicated to approach, confirms David Irazoqui, the ASBH backs coach. In terms of fitness, it was positive this week. But I say it every time, the week translates into Friday evening. So we will see if that was really the case… January and February are always important months for the rest of the season. We are lucky to host three times (Nice, Colomiers, Oyonnax, Editor’s note). We have to attack matches with all our might to be masters of our destiny.”

“Attacking from the right end”'

Starting by beating these devils from Nice who particularly like to give air to their balls: “Nice is a team that plays uninhibited away, analyses the coach. They put volume into attack. It's a team that takes initiatives and has a lot of energy. Let's attack this game from the right end by putting the necessary ingredients to produce a serious match.”

The opposite could be very detrimental for the future.

Team compositions

Friday January 10 at the Raoul-Barrière stadium:

BEZIERS : Lorre- Courtaud, Recor, Gontineac, Votu- (o) Malié (cap.)- (m) Marques- Ancely, Pauta, Abescat- Eru, Dodson- Judge, Boulassel, El Maslouhi.

Replacementsçants : Lalevée, Fernandes, Benoy, Van Bost, Anon, Uruty, Vacquier, Fincham.

NICE : Menoret- Courtade, Loutayar, Erasmus- (o) Viard- (m) Gimbert- Suaud, Laurans, Sarrasin- Chartier, Rey- Rosse, Ovejero, Beaufils.

Replacementsçants : Idoumi, Martinez, Berenguel, Yameogo, Smiler, Jeune Joly, Powell, Ciancio.