Béziers
Grenoble
S. Koen (8'), P. Courtaud (25'), L. Goginava (51')
Tries
B. Abescat (36'), R. Costa-Storti (69')
G. Kretchmann (9', 52')
Conversions
M. Palmier (37')
B. Mechentel (60', 78')
Penalties
M. Palmier (13', 18', 40+3', 65', 80')
This game said more about temperament than table position. FC Grenoble Rugby arrive in these tight finishes with a clear plan and the nerve to execute it. They left Béziers with another close win because they stayed accurate when the air got thin, kicked their goals and forced the final mistake. AS Béziers Hérault, stung by last week’s hiding, brought fight and shape back to Stade Raoul-Barrière. But when the door opened, they didn’t walk through it.
The decisive difference was decision-making under pressure. Grenoble were a man down for 15 key minutes and still found the winning shape; Béziers were a man up and banked only three points. That contrast is not about luck. It’s about breakdown accuracy, edge defence and game management. Grenoble’s defence made its tackles, pinched turnovers, and waited for the moment. Béziers missed too many, spilled too much, and coughed up the penalty that mattered.
Start with the cold numbers. Grenoble finished with 177 tackles and only 18 missed; Béziers missed 27. Grenoble won the turnover count 7–3 and conceded fewer on their own ball. Their lineout was cleaner (88% to 79%), a big deal in a match decided in the final third. Béziers had the upper hand at scrum time (six from seven) and plenty of front-foot carries, but couldn’t translate platform into control of the last ten minutes.
Match Stats
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
RED CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
The match turned twice. First, with the red card to Grenoble replacement tighthead Giorgi Pertaia on 55 minutes. Béziers were already ahead after close-range work from Luka Goginava and had a man advantage to press home at 19–16. They got out to 22–16 through Barnabé Mechentel’s boot but, crucially, did not lock down the next kick-off, nor the breakdowns that followed. The second turn came nine minutes later when Malakai Fekitoa went to the bin. The numerical balance flipped, Grenoble smelled blood, and they struck where Béziers have been vulnerable all season: on the edge.
Raffaele Costa-Storti’s late finish was everything Grenoble had hinted at for an hour: pace onto a fractured edge, a smart decoy inside, and the full-back linking play. Aurélien Callandret provided the final touch, and the right wing did the rest with the kind of footwork and strength that leave defenders grasping. Earlier, when Béziers had the first-half run of play, Grenoble still mined points – Marc Palmier punished two penalties, and a phase later Baptiste Abescat ran in off Nathan Coutin’s assist to tilt the interval. That is the pattern with this Grenoble side: even when they’re not dictating, they are collecting.
From there, composure finished the job. Béziers had a lifeline when Mechentel nudged them 25–24 on 78 minutes. Grenoble didn’t panic. They kicked to contest, squeezed a ruck, and earned the penalty with the clock in red. Palmier, on a 17-point night, did not blink. His scoreline influence is obvious, but the more important contribution was where he put Grenoble to play – constant pressure in the Béziers half, even with a scrum going at only 60%.
Individuals mattered. For the winners, Otunuku Pauta was immense on both sides of the ball: 72 metres and 20 tackles from number eight is the ballast you need away from home. Fergus Lee-Warner carried with intent and hit 17 tackles. Off the bench, Zack Gauthier threw himself into everything for 14 tackles. That shift in work-rate allowed Grenoble to survive the card chaos and keep their width.
Béziers’ pack didn’t lose this. They fronted up. Sias Koen carried hard and often – 13 carries, 49 metres, six defenders beaten – and set the tone with his early try. Goginava was busy and effective. Yanis Lockwood hit 16 tackles and gave them enough ball off the throw to build. Behind them, Gabin Kretchmann and David Delarue had touches in the two first-half tries. But accuracy bit: 14 turnovers conceded is too many in a two-point match, and 27 missed tackles is a leak you can’t plug with heart alone. The yellow to Fekitoa killed their control just when Grenoble were wobbling.
Does the margin flatter Grenoble? No. Two points feels about right on balance. Béziers had winning positions three times and couldn’t close; Grenoble had the cleaner last quarter and managed the key moments. If anything, Béziers will feel they let the result drift – a theme of their season given the late loss to Aurillac here and the beating in Aix where pressure snowballed after errors.
What next? For Grenoble, this reinforces a top-three profile built on resilience and a cool kicker. The work-ons are obvious: the scrum needs tidying, and 13 penalties plus a red will cost them on another night. But they leave with four points and more proof they’re comfortable in a street fight. For Béziers, the reaction from 54–3 last week was real; the crowd saw a team that carried, tackled and played. Now they need to bank a home result to make that response count – tighten the edge defence, protect the ball in contact, and show a bit more clarity when the door opens. You don’t get many invitations like the one they had at 22–16 with a man up. In this league, that’s the difference between staying in the pack and living in the basement.