Colomiers, Perpignan… Covid: do we take the same ones and start over?

the essential
After the cancellation of the 2019-2020 season, the 16 residents of the second national level are starting from zero. The trends observed until containment should however be confirmed, unless the epidemic comes to muddy the waters.

Who will succeed Covid-19, sad winner of the last financial year?

Given the current conditions, the virus can unfortunately not be excluded from the list of favorites for a 2020-2021 season which opens with a mixture of impatience and anxiety, six months after the last official meeting. And if the 246 matches which are announced manage to be disputed, to the point of offering one or even two accessits for the Top 14, the 16 clubs in place on the starting line all have in mind that their course will be accompanied more than ever on the part of luck and / or bad luck. Because the positive cases, which flourish much more than the boletus in the forests of Occitania, could really complicate the calendar …

Knowing that the Pro D2 however has a certain leeway, not being impacted by international or European windows. On paper, and therefore disregarding the context, we should more or less find the same customers, at the top and bottom of the table.

Montauban: promises to be made concrete

For the climb, after an exceptional season ended in first place on the evening of the 23rd day, Colomiers, one of the few clubs to have maintained salaries, is among the credible candidates. The club with the dove has kept a relatively stable workforce, reinforced by sure values ​​of Pro D2, an international (Palisson) and which can rely on a pool of quality (4 players from the region have won their first professional contract ). Not to mention a start to the season capable of serving as a springboard (no member of the top 6 from last season before the 7th day). But the Sarraute-Berneau tandem, of a cautious nature, is perfectly aware that it will be difficult to repeat such a season, the fight promising to be fierce with Perpignan, last runner-up, but also the armadas left behind a few months ago like Grenoble, Oyonnax or Nevers, with much superior means. Biarritz, 6th in March and with flashy recruitment, logically postulates for a place in the six, on condition that the mayonnaise takes in a largely renewed workforce.

At a lower level, Vannes, semi-finalist two years ago, is a spoiler. After a failed season, Montauban, who has undertaken a deep change within his organization chart (staff side, Florent Wieczorek replaced Jean Bouilhou with the forwards while David Byrnes was promoted to three-quarters after the dismissal of Jean-Frédéric Dubois), hopes to come to get involved in the fight. With early recruitment full of promise, it will now be necessary to quickly materialize on the ground.

Carcassonne into the unknown

To see him, Carcassonne will have to wait a little longer. Already deprived of its three friendly matches due to Covid-19, the Audois club saw its planned trip to Rouen be canceled due to four positive cases within the Norman club. Not really ideal for getting into good conditions, especially when you add to that financial worries that can temporarily block about fifteen licenses (read our edition of yesterday). Undoubtedly a little fair to fight with the best, Christian Labit’s troop should fight in the middle of the table with Soyaux-Angouleme, Béziers (provided that serious financial problems are quickly resolved), Provence Rugby, Mont-de-Marsan see Rouen, eager to play the rise in by 2023 and who has changed half of its workforce.

Finally, Valence-Romans, dead last at the end of winter, will have to thwart the forecasts to avoid a relegation that seems to him promised. UnlessAurillac, often in bad shape but always combative to survive among the pros, this time does not pay the note.