At the end of a very tight match, Perpignan came to the end of Grenoble (11-13) on a final penalty from Allan. New disillusionment for the Isérois club, which remains in Pro D2.
The fear match finally smiled at USAP. In a lively match, punctuated by tactical errors and video decisions, notably refusing two trials to the Grenobles in the first half, it is Perpignan on a last penalty at the end of the match which validated his ticket in Top 14. After having started the match thanks to the test of Veredamu, Grenoble largely dominated his opponent. As in 2023 already against Perpignan and as last year against Montpellier, the Isérois club bowed during the Access Match. The disappointment was great at the final whistle for Nicolas Nadau’s players.
“It’s hard to find the words … We still fail, it’s cruel. The words found by Barnabé Couilloud after the meeting were correct, in this context of a match still lost at the foot of the Top 14. If Perpignan started perfectly the meeting with a rapid test of Tavite Veredamu (0-7, 2nd) transformed by Tommaso Allan, Grenoble reacted, even if the video has long been against the Isère formation. Two corner tests refused to Wilfried Hulleu (15th, 19th), the second for a pass in front while the referee had validated the test. Grenoble was finally rewarded. A trial of the second line Thomas Lainault (5-7, 24th) and a penalty by Sam Davies (8-7, 36th)-stopped by the post on the transformation.
Perpignan tears off his maintenance
In the second half, the two teams went blow for blow. The USAP is close to a 60 -meter test, but the Fuente Jéronimo escapes the ball on the line, while Tommaso Allan is missing a penalty. For its part, the FCG takes over the lead after the Allan penalty (8-10, 66th) thanks to the foot of Romain Trouilloud (11-10, 75th). The Stade des Alpes thinks of holding a deserved victory, but only celebrated two minutes before being cooled by the penalty of Allan (11-13, 77th). Dominated in melee, Grenoble deserved a better result at the end of the first half. The Catalans continued to believe it thanks to the very tight score and an experience that undoubtedly made the difference in the last moments of the match.
