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S. Socino (7', 33'), D. Bellot (11'), K. Ramoka (36'), L. Richardis (53'), P. Jouvin (59'), T. Fineanganofo (69')
Tries
L. Couget (51', 61'), R. Nacika (79')
C. Willis (8', 11', 34', 37', 54', 60', 69')
Conversions
R. Seguy (52'), H. Cerisier (61', 82')
Penalties
R. Seguy (4', 14', 29')
This didn’t say much for either defence, but it did say something clear about finishing. SU Agen won because they turned visits into sevens and kept piling on when it mattered. In a game that drifted toward a track meet, they were the side that converted pressure into tries and didn’t blink off the tee.
US Dax can move you around and score from width, but away at Armandie you have to make first-up tackles and slow ball. They didn’t. Thirty points is a healthy return on the road; conceding 49 tells you where the real story sat. Agen’s lineout gave them a reliable launch, their carrying punched the gain line, and their support play finished the pictures. That’s the match, in essence.
The turning came before the break. Dax kicked three penalties to hang around, but while they banked threes, Agen stacked sevens. Two quick strikes late in the half — a second for Santiago Socino and then Kolinio Ramoka through contact — flipped a manageable chase into a 28–9 interval hole. From there, even when Dax stirred after half-time, Agen kept answering with tries to maintain air in the score.
Platform first. Agen’s set piece was spotless — 14 from 14 at the lineout and perfect on their own scrum. The handover at hooker didn’t dent momentum: Socino grabbed two early and replacement Pierre Jouvin scored and threw cleanly after the break. With that security, the hosts could keep attacking shape and stay on front foot.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Execution next. Craig Willis went seven from seven on conversions and kept his side square in the right areas with calm touches and a couple of late passes that put carriers onto soft shoulders. Dorian Bellot set the tempo with a snipe-and-support try and a neat assist; his decision-making around the ruck exploited Dax’s pillar spacing. Ramoka at 12 was the constant dent, 10 carries for 64 metres and 11 tackles the other way, while Lucien Richardis was dangerous on kick return and finished well. Off the bench, Tomasi Fineanganofo kept the carrying standard high and took his chance.
There was also a quiet edge at the breakdown. Agen won the turnover count 8–2, which repeatedly killed Dax phases just when they looked set. That’s not about headline steals so much as consistent efforts from the back five to slow and spoil. It also undercuts any argument that the yellow cards decided it; Dax’s came at 48 minutes and they actually scored first with 14 men, while Agen crossed through Jouvin even when Julien Lebian was off. When you can’t string stops together, the card ledger is a footnote.
Dax were far from toothless. Louis Couget shredded edges for two tries and 10 defenders beaten, the kind of output that normally keeps you in a game. Ratu Nacika kept fighting and got a late score, and Romuald Seguy did the right thing early by keeping the board moving with three penalties. The issue was what happened when Agen shaped multi-phase in the 15-metre channels: Dax’s inside shoulders were loose, they slipped 34 tackles, and their breakdown presence was too light to force exits. Under that pressure, Ian Boubila’s yellow felt inevitable more than pivotal.
Does the margin flatter anyone? Not really. It was 49–23 on 69 minutes, and Dax’s late try trimmed it. If anything, the number is kind to the visitors given how often Agen broke the line and how clean their set piece was. That said, Agen won a defence-light contest by out-finishing, not by shutting anything down. Eighteen handling turnovers and a few soft reads let Dax score three times and make line breaks that better outfits will multiply.
What do they take from it? Agen get confirmation that, even in a loose game, their lineout and carrying can win nights on their own — and that Willis’s boot is a safety net when tries are flowing. The work-on is obvious: tidy up the ball security and tighten the edge defence before a team with a fiercer breakdown makes those turnovers hurt. Dax leave with proof their back three can trouble anyone and that they won’t die wondering with ball in hand. But if they want to take points off heavyweight clubs, they have to halve the missed tackles and find some jackal threat. Without that, more away trips will look like this: entertaining, but ultimately a home side cruising away because it finishes more of what it creates.
