Nissa
Aurillac
A. Motoc (11'), H. Sirgel (26'), T. Idjellidaine (38'), E. Labadie (49')
Tries
N. Azais (28'), M. Coustalat (53'), J. Pieters (69')
T. Idjellidaine (11', 26', 38')
Conversions
J. Strachan (28')
T. Idjellidaine (43')
Penalties
J. Strachan (34')
We couldn’t verify this fixture on any approved listings, and the naming muddle doesn’t help: the senior Nice outfit is usually recorded as Stade Niçois, not “Nissa Rugby.” So we won’t pretend the scoreboard is gospel. What we can do is take the logged data we were given and test whether the rugby makes sense. It does. If these events are accurate, the pattern points to a home side winning on control and collision quality, with one big momentum swing before the break.
The numbers describe a match tilted by possession and tackle efficiency, not set-piece dominance. Both packs were at 100% on scrum and lineout, so the edge came elsewhere: 56% possession, 107 carries to 83, and only 15 missed tackles for the hosts against 25 for the visitors. That profile reads like a side winning the gain line often enough to force a lot of red-zone defence and, eventually, defensive fatigue. It also explains why nine points would separate them without any late flurry required from the boot.
Match Stats
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAKS
TACKLE
TACKLES MISSED
TURNOVERS WON
PENALTIES CONCEDED
YELLOW CARDS
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Where it turned isn’t subtle. A late first-half card for Eoghan Masterson coincides with a burst that, on the feed, became the gap: a try before half-time, then three more points early after it, and a fourth home try just before the hour built a 29–10 platform. If you’re down a forward away from home and having to make 160-plus tackles, that’s the worst possible window to hand over cheap field position. The winners didn’t waste it.
On the home side of the ledger, three names recur across the data. Adrian Motoc scored, made 17 tackles and carried 14 times — that’s a lock setting the tone at the ruck and keeping the ball on the front foot. Hanru Sirgel added a close-range score and 50 metres from 12 carries, which is a lot of heavy traffic turned into front-foot ball. And Theo Idjellidaine, listed at nine, finished with 14 points including a try. Scrum-halves don’t rack those numbers without tempo and good decisions off quick ball; his timing around the card window, especially, looks decisive.
There was detail outside the pack too. Francis Saili topped the home metres with 77 and a line break; that’s the sort of outside-centre return that makes defenders sit and opens lighter-traffic options for the nine and ten. Bautista Ezcurra was tidy and busy on both sides of the ball, and Boris Goutard gave them extra metres at the back. The overall picture is familiar: backs getting their say because the forwards are winning collisions often enough to keep shape and patience in phase play.
As for Stade Aurillacois, the backfield and bench kept them in touch. Nathan Azais was their best outlet on the carry and finished one; Juun Pieters also crossed; and impact man Matteo Coustalat found a seam after the hosts had stretched clear. But for all that, the defensive ask was too big. Tim De Jong and Paulo Tauiliili Pelesasa posted big tackle counts, which reads brave more than effective when the team tally hits 167 and the miss column climbs. That many tackles usually means living without the ball, and living without the ball usually means conceding somewhere during the ten minutes when you’re short-handed.
Does the nine-point margin flatter the hosts? The feed suggests not. They were 19 points up just after half-time and didn’t need to chase anything thereafter. Aurillac’s late tries narrowed it, which hints at composure more than carelessness from the home side. If anything, the work-on for the winners is finishing their field position with a touch more ruthlessness once they’ve done the hard graft; they left the door ajar in the last quarter. Discipline was fine — penalties conceded were about even — but they won’t love giving up two second-half tries having built the game so well.
For Aurillac, this reads like an away performance that asked the pack to survive for too long and cracked during the one spell they couldn’t afford a wobble. The card matters, but so does tackle quality: 25 misses on a night when the opposition’s heavy carriers are humming is a scoreboard waiting to happen. The upside is that their back three and bench clearly carry threat; clean those defensive edges and tidy the exit-set discipline and you aren’t chasing so much.
And the bigger takeaway? If this data reflects what actually unfolded, the home blueprint is clear: a tight five that gets over the gain line, a back row that keeps the ball alive, and a nine who plays the moments. For Aurillac, it’s a reminder that you can’t gift momentum away from home and expect to reel it back with scramble. But we circle back to the top: until the competition records list the fixture properly, all of this sits under asterisk. The rugby makes sense. The listing still needs to.