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P. Marsan (33'), M. Guillomot (58')
Tries
I. Finau (23'), S. Tui (55'), L. Julien (66')
M. Rodor (34', 58')
Conversions
T. Salles (24', 56', 67')
L. Meret (1'), M. Rodor (38', 62')
Penalties
T. Salles (5', 12')
This was familiar from Provence Rugby: a tight game away from home, a wobble or two, then the cool head to close. They’ve already pinched one at Colomiers with bodies in the bin, they won here late last season, and they did it again. The visitors lived on thin margins but owned the last quarter, which is where experienced sides take these contests away from you.
For Valence Romans Drôme, the frustration is they had it where they wanted it — arm wrestle, home crowd, scoreboard nudging their way at 23–20 with 20 to play — and couldn’t finish the job. The set piece frayed, the red-zone detail wasn’t clean enough, and against a team that doesn’t blink on the road, that’s the ball game.
The turn was ruthless and quick. Matteo Rodor’s penalty pushed Valence ahead on 62 minutes, only for Provence to reply with a seven-pointer four minutes later, replacement hooker Lino Julien tracking a pressure sequence for the decisive try and Thomas Salles clipping the extras. That was composure: exit cleanly, build phases, take points. Once in front, Provence’s tempo control and kicking game denied Valence repeat entries and the home side never looked like manufacturing another clear chance.
If you want the underlying reason, look at the pieces that travel. Provence’s lineout was functional enough and settled once the bench came on; Valence’s wasn’t. They coughed up six throws and finished at 57%, which killed multiple promising platforms. You can carry hard — and Valence did through Loan Real, Axel Bruchet and Louis Suaud — but if the launch is loose you don’t stay on the front foot long enough to turn pressure into points. By contrast, Provence’s 77% ball and accurate throwing from Vincent Giudicelli then Julien/Latterrade kept their phase play tidy when it mattered.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Provence were hardly perfect. They conceded more penalties, lost the yellow-card count 0–1 after Léo Drouet sat down on 14 minutes, and still coughed up 13 turnovers. But the telling note came in that card window: they scored the only try, Inga Finau finishing at 23 minutes to stretch a lead despite being a man short. That is an away side comfortable living without the ball and striking when the chance appears.
Individually, Salles was the calm at the tiller — 12 points from the tee without a wobble and the sort of field management Provence rely on in these one-score finishes. Out wide Sione Tui produced two clean breaks and a finish after the break, while Setareki Bituniyata kept bending the line with 84 metres and seven defenders beaten, the kind of gain-line wins that turn a messy set into a scoring set. And if there’s a quieter match-winner, it’s Tornike Jalagonia: 25 tackles tells you who kept the defensive shape intact when Valence went direct.
Valence’s best period came when the game loosened early in the second half. Mathieu Guillomot hit a hard line to level it after Tui’s strike, and Rodor’s kicking — after an early reshuffle when Lucas Meret left on 19 minutes — kept the board moving. Rodor deserves credit there: 10 points, two clean breaks, and a steady hand covering two jerseys. The scrum was also a real weapon at 5/5, taking a couple of tidy edges that relieved pressure.
But the issues are basic and fixable. The lineout is the headline. Valence lost throws in both halves and it bled momentum, especially in the last 15. Add a couple of handling errors after first-phase wins and they never stacked enough phases in the Provence 22. Defensively, they were organised, but once Provence got to the edges the inside spacing wobbled; both Tui and Bituniyata found shoulders far too easily for a home side defending a lead.
Does the margin flatter either team? Not really. Provence were better in the decisive moments and their try count reflects that. But they left the door ajar with discipline and accuracy, just as they did at Colomiers; a harsher opponent might have kicked it in. The lesson for them is obvious: the habit of closing is real, the habit of inviting trouble doesn’t need to be. For Valence, there’s enough here to steady after Dax — the fight was there, the gain-line work was there — but until the lineout settles and the red-zone detail sharpens, these one-score home games will keep slipping away.
So Provence roll on unbeaten, top-end contenders with a taste for away jeopardy and the nous to survive it. Valence take belief in the contest but also a clear to-do list. In this league, that’s not a bad place to be in September — but the fixes can’t wait.
