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T. Carol (12'), I. Mtchedlidze (35'), R. Loughnane (57'), B. O'Donnell (65'), N. Azais (78')
Tries
J. Wasserman (29')
J. Strachan (13', 36', 58', 65', 80')
Conversions
A. Cellier (30')
J. Strachan (18', 23')
Penalties
A. Cellier (5', 19', 27')
This told us less about drama and more about where these two are. Stade Aurillacois look like a side who have remembered how to stack points at Jean-Alric, and they did so again. USON Nevers, still winless, travelled with a defence already fraying and left with the thread finally pulled.
The shape of it was familiar. Aurillac arrived humming off a 50-plus home haul a fortnight ago and a gritty one-point steal away last week. Nevers came as lanterne rouge, recently cuffed at home, and trying to fix leak after leak. Put those trends on the same pitch and you generally get what we saw: the hosts with front-foot ball and variety; the visitors stuck in their 22 and eventually drowning in tackles and decisions.
If there was a hinge, it wasn’t a late sidestep or a card-fuelled surge. It was the 20 minutes either side of the break. Nevers had clung on through Anselme Cellier’s boot and a poacher’s finish from Johan Wasserman, then Aurillac struck before the interval through Irakli Mtchedlidze to restore control. When Matteo Coustalat was binned just after half-time, a four-point game sat invitingly in front of Nevers. They didn’t take a point. That was the match. A side short on confidence blinked when the door opened; a side in rhythm slammed it shut.
The numbers are the blunt explanation. Aurillac carried more, beat more defenders and asked questions across the park. Nevers were forced into 199 tackles and missed 39 of them; that isn’t sustainable at this level, never mind away from home against a team with strike runners at 15, 13 and on the left edge.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Within that framework, Aurillac’s decision-makers ran the game. Jake Strachan had one of those fly-half nights that look routine because he’s making the right option early: two penalties to bank territory and scoreboard pressure when Nevers were infringing, five conversions taken care of, and tempo in phase play when the visitors’ line started to stagger. His willingness to square up drew defenders and let Ben O’Donnell and Thomas Carol pick cleaner lines. Carol’s finish in the first quarter set the tone; O’Donnell’s strike in the last quarter confirmed Nevers’ resistance had gone.
Aurillac’s middle third was just as important. Ben Houston kept punching past the gain line, which meant Nevers were folding around the corner before they could set a picture. Hugo Huurman and Giorgi Kartvelishvili did the hard, boring work – 23 and 17 tackles respectively – that let the backs play on the front foot. When the benches came on, the home side accelerated: Luka Nioradze brought heft and hands, Tim de Jong cut them up with a long-range break, and Nathan Azais iced it late. That depth told. So did a steady set piece advantage; nothing spectacular, but enough ball on their throw and more stability at scrum time to keep Nevers penned.
For the visitors, the effort wasn’t absent. Ugo Vignolles and Ted Condon hit everything in sight, and Dylan Jaminet had moments in backfield. But everything was hard: exit sets under pressure, midfield carries into two-man shots, and entries that ended with three points rather than seven. Cellier kept them in touch before the break, yet reliance on the tee is a symptom here, not a solution. One try away from home won’t beat sides who can roll to 30 and beyond.
Nevers’ most costly stretch was that yellow-card window. Four down, a man up, field position to work with – and they lost the kicking duel and the breakdown momentum. Once Aurillac shook off being short-handed and went to their bench, the visitors’ tackle height climbed, their spacing frayed, and the clean breaks arrived. Confidence is brittle when you’re 0-for-the-season; you saw it in their red-zone patience and their kick pressure, both of which ebbed as the score stretched.
Does the margin flatter Aurillac? Not really. The second half was 21-0, and the differential in defenders beaten and clean breaks justifies that. There are notes for the home coaches, though. They cheapened the first half with a handful of soft penalties that let Nevers hang about, and Coustalat’s card right after the restart could have been far more expensive against a side with sharper edge. Given the 33 conceded to Biarritz here two weeks back, they’ll know that keeping discipline and focus when the game is there to be closed is their next step.
As for Nevers, the table says plenty and this didn’t rewrite it. What they can take is the first-half grit and the work-rate of their pack; the problem is it has to translate into try-scoring threat and better scramble when the dam starts to crack. A home date with Brive next is about stopping the slide before it becomes the season’s identity. Aurillac, up into the traffic for the top six, will eye Nissa next and the chance to keep stacking Jean-Alric points while tightening the bolts without the ball.
