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S. Vailanu (10'), I. Urruty (16'), J. Dyer (26')
Tries
G. Aprasidze (14'), A. Mitu (20'), A. Proult (59')
T. Dolhagara (10', 16', 26')
Conversions
P. Berges (14', 20', 59')
T. Dolhagara (40'), I. Laclau (63')
Penalties
P. Berges (5', 7')
Biarritz proved they can dictate where a game is played; what they didn’t prove at Aguilera was that they can finish one. They spent most of the night camped in Soyaux territory and all but lived there in the closing stretch, yet came away with only a share of the points. That isn’t bad luck. It’s about what happens – and too often didn’t – at the breakdown and off the lineout when the chance is there to turn the screw.
By contrast, Soyaux-Angoulême walked out with a draw because the bits of their game that travel held up when the scoreboard was wobbling: a reliable lineout to exit under stress, an edge on turnovers to blunt multi-phase, and a scramble defence that stayed connected even as the phases piled up. Biarritz played 64% of the match in SA XV’s half and had close to 80% of the ball in the last 10 minutes, but the visitors’ last-ditch work meant that dominance never cashed out.
The pattern that decided the night was simple: Biarritz mounted pressure, Angoulême cut the oxygen at the contact or escaped via touch. When Biarritz were humming, it looked decisive. Sione Vailanu punched them onto the front foot and finished their first try, Iban Hiriart Urruty added another off a direct carry pattern, and Johnny Dyer muscled over to put them four up at half-time. Yet the moments to break SA XV’s back never quite came because the visitors kept nicking the ball or forcing a fumble one or two rucks short of the red-zone strike.
Where it really turned was after the interval. Biarritz had control of field position and a narrow lead. Angoulême barely saw the ball, but when they did their accuracy stood up: a clean launch, hands to the edge, and Arthur Proult was over on 59 minutes. Suddenly Biarritz were chasing again. Iban Laclau levelled it with a penalty on 63 minutes, and from there the game became a siege. It finished 27–27 because every time Biarritz threatened to win a penalty advantage or bend SA XV on the edges, a purple jersey either got under the ball or onto it. That’s not just resolve; it’s good habits at the floor and sharp reads in the tramlines.
Biarritz will know they left points behind. The scrum gave them platforms and whistle pressure, but they didn’t marry that with the same certainty at the lineout, so the two main levers of territory and conversion were rarely aligned. Their multi-phase in the 22 lacked a bit of variety once the tip-ons and short shapes were covered; runners were isolated too often, and SA XV’s jackals feasted. There were strong individual shifts – Kylian Jaminet was busy as a starter for exits and counter-launches, Jessy Jegerlehner added bite in contact and kept them on the right side of the gain line, and Thomas Dolhagara steered and kicked cleanly – but the last pass or clean-out kept undermining promising pictures.
Angoulême’s defence deserves more than a pat on the back. Their tight five were the reason that a night of 146 tackles didn’t unravel late; bodies kept folding inside to protect the seam, and when Biarritz went wide, the edge read was organised enough to force attackers back infield. At set-piece, the lineout was the safety valve. Patxi Bidart found his jumpers, with Richie Arnold anchoring and Matt Beukeboom grafting, and that steady supply line let them clear their lines when the crowd was baying. With ball in hand they were opportunistic rather than expansive: Gela Aprasidze seized his moment around the ruck for a first-half try, Adrian Mitu picked a smart line for the second, and Paul Berges kept the board ticking from the tee. It wasn’t pretty, but it was decisive in the moments that mattered.
Does the draw flatter SA XV? A little, given how little of the game they spent upfield and how often they were defending repeat sets. But you earn luck by being tidy where it counts. Their set-piece didn’t wilt, their breakdown work flipped momentum eight or nine times, and their scramble in the last 10 minutes was as honest as you’ll see on the road. For Biarritz, this is two points dropped at home, plain and simple. After shipping 50 at Aurillac last week, they fixed the field-position problem but not the conversion rate.
What next? For Biarritz, the takeaway is blunt: protect the ball in contact and tidy the lineout under pressure, or they’ll keep turning territory into stalemates. The structure is there; the ruthlessness isn’t. For SA XV, a draw at Aguilera keeps their start broadly on track after last week’s near-miss against Provence. The identity is clear: accurate lineout, nasty at the breakdown, connected in scramble. If they can cut the time spent under the referee’s eye and spend a shade longer in the middle third, they’ll be a nuisance for everyone – starting with Dax at Chanzy next Friday.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAKS
TACKLE
TACKLES MISSED
TURNOVERS WON
PENALTIES CONCEDED
YELLOW CARDS
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
