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H. Coetzee (65')
Tries
M. Jean (28'), H. Bouyssou (52'), K. Ramoka (73'), M. Bonnet (80')
S. Reynolds (65')
Conversions
C. Willis (28', 52'), J. Soulan (73')
Penalties
W. Demotte (57'), J. Soulan (80')
This fixture didn’t so much flip a script as confirm it. SU Agen arrived with points in their boots and recent scars to show Nevers, and they played like a side that expected to own the night. USON Nevers, stuck in a run of narrow losses that had drained confidence, looked exactly that: hesitant on the ball, loose without it, and unable to hold the gain line when it mattered. Another heavy head-to-head only reinforced the sense that this matchup sits in Agen’s sweet spot.
The away side’s control was built less on fireworks than on nerve. They were composed in exit, direct on the carry, and happy to take the scoreboard nudge when it came. Nevers, by contrast, could not turn territory into pressure. They had long spells against 14 after two Agen first-half yellows, yet reached halftime empty. That was the tell. If you can’t cash in with numbers, against a team that’s just put 49 on Dax, you’re in trouble.
From there the story ran one way. The first try, finished by full-back Mathias Jean, came off the back of phase control and field position rather than a broken-play gift, which suited Agen just fine. After the break, scrum-half Hugo Bouyssou knifed in to put daylight between the teams and, crucially, Agen kicked the next points too to keep Nevers chasing three scores. Even when the visitors lost a third man to the bin after the hour, Nevers’ lone response — a close-range finish from replacement Hermann Coetzee — felt overdue rather than momentum-changing.
The turn, such as it was, sat inside those sin-bins. Agen played 20 minutes a man down across the match and conceded just seven points. Nevers then handed the initiative straight back with Varian Pasquet’s yellow, and centre Kolinio Ramoka punished it with a clean strike to re-open the gap. A late penalty and lock Matthieu Bonnet’s finish pushed the margin out. Yes, it swelled at the end, but it matched the pattern: one side ruthless, the other unable to build back-to-back pressure.
Agen’s spine was excellent. Fly-half Craig Willis managed the middle third, took his kicks and kept the ball where his forwards wanted it. Bouyssou’s tempo at nine was the difference between tidy and threatening. In the pack, William Demotte gave them length through the tight and made smart decisions on the scoreboard. Ramoka straightened whenever Nevers drifted and got his reward. The variety of scorers — full-back, scrum-half, centre, lock — tells you this wasn’t a one-trick maul show; they stressed Nevers in multiple channels.
There are work-ons in there for Agen. Three yellow cards away from home is living loose, and stronger sides will punish that indiscipline. Their red-zone efficiency was good without being brutal — a couple of promising platforms were burned by handling — and they won’t want to rely on the opposition’s errors in future arm-wrestles. But back-to-back big tallies, here and last week, look like a trend rather than a spike. The confidence from another dominant outing in this fixture is obvious.
Nevers weren’t hopeless, just soft at the points that matter. Reynolds moved them to the edges but too often on static ball. The carry through the tight five lacked dent, which left cleaners arriving under pressure and invited jackals. When their bench did inject something — Coetzee’s try was all intent — they promptly gave the scoreboard back with a card and a soft concession. The defence held for stretches, but the scramble faded late as the tackle count climbed. That’s a fitness and focus question as much as a system one.
What does it mean? For Agen, the attack they flashed against Dax has travelled. The psychological edge over Nevers is intact, and the table will soon reflect it if they tidy the discipline. For Nevers, this wasn’t about a bounce of the ball; it was about accuracy and belief. Failing to capitalise on two first-half sin-bins at home says plenty. With Aurillac next, the task is simple and hard: find front-foot ball, cut the cheap penalties, and turn visits to the 22 into points. Until they do, nights like this will keep looking the same.
