Nationale 2: five red cards in two games and a points deduction, La Seyne sink deeper

Bad news keeps piling up for the La Seyne-sur-Mer club, on and off the pitch.

Four points instead of six

La Seyne-sur-Mer’s Espoirs side forfeited a game, and the rules then dock the first team two points. The official FFR table, updated on Sunday morning, already shows the deduction: USS have 4 points from eight rounds instead of 6 and stay bottom of pool 2, four points behind Tricastin.

The club have not explained the forfeit. Rugbyamateur notes that president Florian Beguine already pointed to budget problems at the end of last season, and that the Espoirs have three times this season turned up with 22 players on the team sheet instead of 23.

La Seyne are not alone. The official table also shows two-point deductions for Drancy, who forfeited an Espoirs game at Annonay in round 6, and for Marmande, in pool 1.

Five red cards in two games

La Seyne’s only win of the season, 22-10 against Tricastin on 31 October, ended with six red cards, three for each side, all shown between the 60th and 80th minutes. At Tyrosse on Saturday, two more La Seyne players were sent off: Cyril Guilpin in the 49th minute, then Andy Garcia Bouvret in the 70th, after a yellow in the 27th.

With five red cards, all in those two games, La Seyne are the most sanctioned club in Nationale 2 this season, ahead of Tricastin (3). They have also had 14 yellow cards, a total only Saint-Jean-de-Luz (16) have beaten.

The weakest attack in the pool

With 103 points scored in eight games, USS have the weakest attack in pool 2, behind Tricastin (113), and have conceded 239. There is no relegation from Nationale 2 this season under the FFR’s competition reform, but La Seyne still have fourteen rounds to play.