The two sides relegated from Pro D2 set off the same way. Round 2 split them.
Carcassonne and Mont-de-Marsan went down from Pro D2 together in June. They started Nationale with the same favourites’ tag, and they began the same way, with a big win. Round 2 split them.
Round 2 results
| Match | Score |
|---|---|
| Rouen v Orléans | 59-29 |
| Chambéry v Périgueux | 51-24 |
| US Bressane v Carcassonne | 12-36 |
| Massy v Bourgoin | 26-17 |
| Marcq-en-Baroeul v Suresnes | 14-23 |
| Albi v Mont-de-Marsan | 21-17 |
| Vienne v Rennes | 23-21 |
Two relegated sides, two paths
Carcassonne won 36-12 in Bourg-en-Bresse, a week after beating Albi 32-14. Two matches, two wins, and the highest points tally in the division with 68 scored and 26 conceded.
Mont-de-Marsan had made an even bigger statement on the opening weekend, thrashing Vienne 47-0. The trip to Albi looked like a test, and the Landes side failed it by four points, losing 21-17. Stade Montois still have the best points difference in the league, plus 43, a sign that the margin is there but was not enough in the Tarn.
Albi, for their part, made up for their opening defeat in Carcassonne. The Tarn club was the only one to face both relegated Pro D2 sides in its first two rounds.
Three teams on two from two
| Team | P | W | L | TB | LB | Diff. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carcassonne | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +42 | 12 |
| Suresnes | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +19 | 10 |
| Massy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +14 | 10 |
| Mont-de-Marsan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +43 | 8 |
| Chambéry | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +20 | 8 |
| Rouen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +20 | 7 |
| Rennes | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +5 | 7 |
| Orléans | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -9 | 7 |
| Bourgoin | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 6 |
| Albi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -14 | 6 |
| Vienne | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -45 | 6 |
| Marcq-en-Baroeul | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -14 | 3 |
| Périgueux | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -32 | 3 |
| US Bressane | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -45 | 2 |
A win is worth four points, to which are added bonus points and two starting points awarded to every club.
Suresnes and Massy join Carcassonne among the unbeaten. Massy, from the Paris region, beat Périgueux and then Bourgoin, while Suresnes got the better of Rouen before winning in Marcq-en-Baroeul.
At the bottom, two clubs that cannot score
US Bressane have the lowest attacking total in the division: 18 points in two matches, six against Orléans and then twelve against Carcassonne. Périgueux, beaten at home by Massy and then swept aside 51-24 in Chambéry, have conceded 76 points in two games.
Vienne, for their part, looked a different side within a week. Beaten 47-0 in Mont-de-Marsan on their opening outing without scoring a single point, they beat Rennes 23-21 on Saturday evening in the last fixture of the round. Twenty-three points scored in one evening, against none the week before, and a first win that lifts them off the bottom of the table.
The standout players
The match data from these two rounds brings a few names to the fore.
| Player | Club | Tries | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Glynn | Rennes | 1 | 29 |
| Florent Massip | Rouen | 1 | 25 |
| Aurélien Barreau | Mont-de-Marsan | 1 | 25 |
| Thibault Moreno | Chambéry | 0 | 25 |
| Max Auriac | Suresnes | 0 | 24 |
| Johann Hiltrude | Orléans | 1 | 22 |
| Logan Tabet | Rouen | 3 | 15 |
Harry Glynn moved to the top of the scoring charts on Saturday evening despite Rennes’ defeat in Vienne, with 29 points in two matches. Logan Tabet is the only player with three tries after two rounds, which partly explains Rouen’s 72 points. And Jérôme Bosviel is on sixteen points for Carcassonne: the all-time leading points scorer in Pro D2 history, released by Montauban this summer, has joined the Aude club and is already making a difference.
What comes next
Round 3 is played on 4 and 5 September. Carcassonne host Rouen, Mont-de-Marsan welcome US Bressane, and Albi travel to Vienne.
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