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This game said more about control than flair. US Oyonnax spent long spells without the ball, made 161 tackles, and still walked out of Raoul-Barrière with five points because they were clean, accurate and ruthless when the moments came. AS Béziers Hérault had front-foot ball in the first half and an 11-point lead, but three yellow cards and a malfunctioning lineout turned their evening into a lesson.
The numbers back it up: Béziers carried 136 times to Oyonnax’s 78 but missed almost twice as many tackles, coughed up 16 turnovers and lost six lineouts. That cocktail – plus a 14-minute discipline wobble – is how you turn 21-10 into 21-31 without conceding another point.
J. Rensburg (19'), J. Laharrague (21'), S. Koen (26')
Tries
K. Qadiri (15'), C. Guilly (47'), L. Morland (51'), Penalty Try (57')
V. Dreuille (20', 21', 27')
Conversions
T. Vincent (15', 48', 52')
Penalties
T. Vincent (1')
The hinge was obvious. At 46 minutes, with Béziers still in charge, Sias Koen was binned. One minute later Cyriac Guilly was over. Five minutes after that, Louis Morland finished with authority. On 57 minutes came the penalty try and Clément Ancely’s yellow. Twenty-one unanswered, born of accurate set-piece, territory and a side that didn’t blink. Oyonnax didn’t need to dominate possession to dominate the scoreboard; they just needed Béziers down to 14 and their own detail to be tidy.
That tidy bit matters. Oyonnax were at 80% on both scrum and lineout, versus 67% and 63% for Béziers. When the game tightened after the break, those platforms decided it. Thomas Vincent steered them around with nine points off the tee and clear decisions, but the heavy lifting came from a pack that did not go away: Kevin Lebreton made a monstrous 28 tackles, Koen Bloemen 16, Wandrille Picault 18. Their defensive spacing held too – just 11 misses on a night spent mostly without the ball. When Oyonnax finally got field position, they didn’t faff; they took points or seven.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
There were flashes from the visitors in the backs as well. Vasil Lobzhanidze was a running threat from nine, chewing up 103 metres off three carries and forcing Béziers to fold defenders back infield. Karim Qadiri finished sharply before the interval, and Morland’s lines in the outside channel looked a cut above. It wasn’t pretty throughout – there were 13 turnovers and some loose touches from the back three – but Oyonnax’s spine looked in-season already: clean set-piece, a composed 10, and back-rowers who hit everything.
Béziers had the spark early. Jordon van Rensburg cut them into the game, Joseph Laharrague picked his moments and carried for 46 metres with a sharp finish, and Koen muscled over with momentum all theirs. But that energy masked problems. The lineout creaked even in the good spell, and the early yellow for Nicolas Plazy forced a backline reshuffle after just 14 minutes. The second-half unravel wasn’t about a single call going against them; it was a pattern: a soft penalty here, a lost throw there, and a defensive set that leaked key tackles when numbers were down.
Selection and usage will sting on review. Béziers leaned heavily on crash options – Malakai Fekitoa took 14 carries for only seven metres, and Cam Dodson carried 19 times for 27 – which told you the gain line wasn’t being dented often enough. When they did play to space, errors crept in: Laharrague’s three turnovers and a spilt exit or two bled pressure. They also left points in touch; at 63% on their own throw, it’s hard to build repeat entries in the red zone.
Does the 10-point gap flatter Oyonnax? Not really. They conceded three tries in eight first-half minutes, so there’s work to do on start-up intensity, but once they tightened the screw after the break the game looked theirs. With three Béziers yellows and a 21-0 second-half swing, the margin reflects control. If anything, Béziers will feel they had enough ball to be closer – and that’s the frustration. Volume without accuracy is just noise.
Individually, a few deserve a line. For Oyonnax, Lebreton’s engine set the tone and Guilly’s finish right after the bin changed the temperature. Vincent’s goal-kicking kept the board ticking and Morland’s punch at 13 gave them a release valve. For Béziers, Van Rensburg looked their cleanest strike runner and Laharrague asked questions, but Koen’s yellow at a bad time undid much of his earlier good work. Ancely’s card and the penalty try felt like the final nudge off the cliff.
The takeaways are plain. Oyonnax can win ugly away from home: their set-piece is bankable, their discipline solid, and their back row combative. Fix the opening quarter and they look like a team built for the grind of Pro D2. Béziers have shape and threats, but until the lineout percentage climbs and the card count drops, they’re gifting teams a route back in. You can’t spend 51% of the ball and three trips to the bin in the same night and expect to close out sides as streetwise as Oyonnax.
