Match for Promotion
Only the Bayonne Crusaders in R2 will play for a promotion spot. The team coached by Marc Le Moël, finalist in the Coupe des Pyrénées, hosts Villenave’s reserve team this Sunday at Deschamps. With an extraordinary second half of the season, including a perfect ten out of ten (eleven consecutive victories if we include the last match of the first half), and unbeaten in the league for thirteen games, the Bayonne team holds their fate in their hands to return to the highest regional level, exactly one year after leaving it. With a one-point lead over La Brède, the Crusaders are in a favorable position. Watch out for Villenave, who along with La Brède and Talence, are the only ones to have beaten them, but it was at the beginning of the season in September.
Battle for Survival
In R2, in the same group as the Crusaders, Anglet Genêts’ reserve team travels to La Brède, direct competitor with Bayonne for promotion to R1. Sebastien Camiade’s players are neck and neck with Mont-de-Marsan, just one point behind, to secure a tenth place that could mean safety. With a victory, the Anglet team could avoid relegation without needing a calculator.
In R3, two teams in Group J have everything at stake this Sunday. The Saint-Pierre-d’Irube reserve team, playing away against second-place Ygos, needs a point to secure safety or at worst finish as the best tenth-placed team. The situation is tougher for Ustaritz. The team from Labourd must win at home against Saint-Médard-en-Jalles B to guarantee at least a tenth-place finish.
Games with No Significance
The Bayonne Aviron B team, still in the running for a podium finish in R1, faces Mérignac, while Arin, already relegated, hosts Villenave. Tarnos, already safe from relegation, welcomes Agen in R2.
