Colomiers
Agen
A. Ulutuipalelei (15'), S. Bardoul (24'), P. Dimcheff (30'), T. Giral (35'), R. Bellemand (55'), M. Dulon (64')
Tries
C. Laloi (39', 70'), T. Matakaiongo (62')
T. Giral (16', 36')
Conversions
J. Soulan (62', 70')
T. Giral (5')
Penalties
This told us more about sharpness than volume. Colomiers barely saw the ball for long stretches yet ripped through Agen when it mattered, built a match-winning lead before the break, and then managed the risk. Possession was an Agen obsession; the points lived at the other end.
Agen arrived with momentum and carried hard again here, but they were loose where Colomiers were precise. The difference sat at the set piece and in the red zone. Colomiers’ lineout was near faultless and their first punch off structured possession hurt. When the game loosened, their 9–10 pair played flatter, faster and found edges in two passes. Agen beat more defenders across the night, yet looked short of shape when they got into scoring areas. That’s not bad luck. That’s detail.
The contest turned on a ruthless 20-minute window before half-time. Colomiers landed four tries across that spell and answered every scramble with another clean break. You could see Agen sag after the third one: line speed disappeared, decisions got sticky, and they stopped folding around the corner. Charles Laloi’s score just before the interval offered a lifeline, but it felt like consolation even then.
Look at the numbers and the pattern is obvious: Colomiers finished with 43% ball but 10 clean breaks to Agen’s 3. They also pinched seven turnovers and ran at a 16/18 lineout. Agen had more carries and beat 36 defenders to 22, yet coughed up 16 turnovers and lost two scrums and three lineouts. Territory and time are nothing without control.
Match Stats
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Individually, Colomiers got big plays from players who matter in those moments. Jules Danglot was busy and incisive, taking 16 snipes for 80 metres and three clean breaks that bent the line enough for the midfield to join. Théo Giral sat flat, pulled defenders with his feet, and had the nerve to back himself for his try; 12 points and a steadying penalty early set the tone. Up front, Pablo Dimcheff threw 11 lineouts true and picked his angles in contact, plus the hooker’s try that underlined how clean their platform was. Seamus Bardoul ran hard on short lines, finished one, and still found 11 tackles on the other side. In the tight, Atonio Ulutuipalelei gave them gainline on the carries that matter, and Luka Plataret quietly stacked 23 tackles to shut off Agen’s inside ball.
Agen weren’t passengers. Sialevailea Tolofua was their engine with 20 carries, 51 metres and eight defenders beaten. He dragged them onto the front foot repeatedly, but support lines lagged and presentation was messy; too many promising carries ended with Colomiers hands over the ball. Romain Delemarle and Clément Garrigues had willing traffic, and Charles Laloi finished two well, but there was little deception through 10–12 and not enough manipulation of the backfield to stress Colomiers’ edges. Worse, the set piece wobbled at key times — a 79% lineout away from home is survivable until the throws you must win aren’t.
The second half confirmed rather than changed anything. When Colomiers rolled on fresh muscle and Robin Bellemand crashed over, any thought of a comeback died. Even a yellow card to Jean Thomas on 62 minutes — during which Agen struck through Taniela Matakaiongo — didn’t tilt the field. Two minutes later Martin Dulon was under the posts, a man down. That’s game sense and composure under pressure.
Does 37–19 flatter Colomiers? If anything, the opposite. They scored six tries and only converted two; the margin could have been uglier. Agen’s late second for Laloi kept it respectable, but a lot of their front-foot moments came after the result had settled. The work-ons for the winners are clear enough, though: 35 missed tackles is too generous, 11 penalties fed unnecessary stress, and the goal-kicking rhythm went missing. They won because of incision, not control, and you don’t want to live like that every Friday.
For Agen, this is a reality check on the things that don’t show up on highlight reels. You can win the carry count and still lose badly if your breakdown detail is sloppy and your set piece leaks. Soulan missed four tackles in the line and the scramble phase never convinced; they were chasing hips rather than setting traps. The shape is there, the athletes are there, and they’ve proven they can hurt teams — Nevers and Nice found that out — but the step from dangerous to dependable is organisation without the ball and accuracy at the throw.
Colomiers leave with more than four points; they leave with a blueprint. Accurate lineout, quick tempo off 9–10, and enough punch in the centres to cash in. If they tidy their discipline and finishing, they’ll climb the table quickly. Agen take a bruise and a lesson: sort the set piece and the defensive system, and their recent surge won’t have been a blip. Until then, possession will keep flattering to deceive.