Rennes led 22-19 in the 43rd minute. The rest of the match was not played fifteen against fifteen, and not because of a card.
The front-row shortage rule
When a team no longer has enough players fit to play in the front row, it must continue the match with fourteen. This is known as the shortage rule, and it was applied on Friday night at the Stadium in Albi.
Rennes lost their starting tighthead and then his replacement to injury, before loosehead Alexandre Candel also went off shortly after the hour mark. Rennes coach Kévin Courties confirmed it after the match, referring to the loss of his two tightheads and the need to find solutions.
The team sheet tells the same story. Toma Tahiviki, the Rennes number three, was replaced as early as the 8th minute by Cohen Kiewit; in the 40th, Kiewit went off in turn; and in the 54th, hooker Rémi Bouaffou was brought back on in place of a back. Recalling a front-row forward for a back around the hour mark is the telltale sign of a team running out of props.
That is where the match turned
In the 43rd minute, Charles Provost scored Rennes’ third try to put them 22-19 up. The visitors had already scored through Rémi Bouaffou in the 21st and Robin Gicquel in the 32nd.
Albi then scored nineteen unanswered points: Victor Fromentèze in the 56th, then Mate Gurtskaia in the 61st and 77th. The Georgian’s second try secured the try bonus point.
Romain Uruty kicked four conversions, Antoine Bouzerand had opened the scoring in the very first minute and Mathieu Galtier scored in the 17th.
Fourteen points for Albi
SCA climb back to second place in Nationale with fourteen points, six behind Carcassonne. Three wins in four rounds, two of them with a bonus point.
Rennes stay tenth on six points, with just one win since the start of the season.
The match was played in front of 3,600 spectators and refereed by Mr Samora.
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