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K. Rasaku (40'), M. Lafon (60'), M. Lemardelet (76')
Tries
L. Julien (18'), T. Martel (22'), S. Bituniyata (54')
P. Berges (76')
Conversions
M. Vareiro (19', 55')
B. Botica (14', 52'), P. Berges (71')
Penalties
M. Vareiro (11', 42', 74')
This told us more about Provence Rugby than any handsome home bonus ever could. Third coming in and unbeaten, they survived long spells without the ball, defended their red zone with grit, and took almost everything on offer. On the flip side, Soyaux-Angoulême XV produced most of the carrying and the punch, yet bled accuracy at the places that decide tight games: their lineout and their decision-making after breaks.
Strip the noise away and the hinge is clear. Angoulême owned 60% possession and doubled Provence for carries, but hit only 59% on their own throws. When they did build front-foot ball, 15 turnovers reopened the door. Provence didn’t need volume; they needed moments, and they made theirs count.
Two of those moments came early, and they framed the night. Tornike Jalagonia, immense on both sides of the ball, produced two slick touches off quick ruck ball to put Lino Julien and then Thibaut Martel over. That 3–15 cushion arrived while Angoulême’s lineout was already creaking and, crucially, right before Mamoudou Meite’s yellow compounded the damage. From there, Provence could defend the gain line and kick their exits; Angoulême were playing uphill.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
What Angoulême did have was threat out wide. Kaminieli Rasaku beat eight defenders and finished on the hooter to keep them alive at the break, Mathis Lafon kept punching holes with two clean breaks and a try, and Nathan Farissier carried for 61 metres with an assist. The scrum was pristine at 7 from 7. But every time Chanzy went up, a throw drifted or a post-contact offload lacked support. A 10-from-17 lineout in a two-point game is the story.
Provence’s defence deserves its due. They made 145 tackles to 65 and were often folding from touchline to touchline, yet the middle never fell out. Inga Finau missed his share, but the back-row covered it; Martel stuck six, Jalagonia led with 15 and three offloads that got them moving after steals. When they did see the 22, they were sharp. Setareki Bituniyata picked a seam off a right-edge launch just after the hour to stretch it to 11–25 and, with Angoulême chasing, that felt decisive.
The closing passage was as much about nerve as shape. Provence binned Tyler Ardron on 71 minutes and Angoulême correctly took three through Paul Berges before the hosts finally churned over through Maxence Lemardelet on 76. Between those, Manuel Vareiro snuck a penalty to push it back to nine; in a game starved of Provence phases, the full-back’s 13 points and cool head mattered. That late three, landed a man down, was the kick of a side comfortable winning off scraps.
Selection and roles shifted for the hosts and didn’t help their fluency. Ben Botica left on 52 after a penalty had dragged it to 11–18, Berges finished the job at fly-half and kicked neatly, and the bench added energy through Seydou Diakite and others. None of that solved the lineout or the turnover count. Credit to Lemardelet, who carried 11 times for 47 metres and gave them a late punch; he and Lafon looked like the most likely route out. But Angoulême’s nine-point deficit with Ardron off had to become more pressure, earlier, than it did.
Does the margin flatter Provence? Not really. Yes, Angoulême had the ball and the carry numbers, but Provence created more clean breaks with half the possession and banked three tries from limited visits. Winning by two feels about right when one team is ruthlessly more efficient. If anything, Angoulême will be the more frustrated: they manufactured enough entries to win and didn’t cash them.
Individually, Provence’s spine stood up. Jalagonia was the game’s fulcrum, two try assists and the defensive engine on top. Martel carried with bite and finished well. Vareiro controlled the scoreboard and backfield under heat. Julien worked through 11 tackles and earned his five. For Angoulême, Rasaku’s broken-field threat is a weapon, Lafon balanced contact and distribution, and the tight five owned the scrum. Meite’s card was a momentum tax his side could ill afford, but the bigger tax was thrown to touch or pinched in the air.
What next? For Provence, this travels. You don’t stay unbeaten away from Maurice-David without being comfortable suffering. They’ll still worry about discipline—14 penalties and a yellow—and they won’t love a 67% scrum return, but they walked out of Chanzy with a result that says they’re more than a front-running side. For Angoulême, the blueprint is there: keep the scrum, tidy the throw, and halve the soft turnovers. Do that and the backline’s strike will start to mean wins, not regrets.
