The season begins with Brave as a favorite for the climb
Said Harish, CA Brive’s symbolic captain. Romain Peruchu/AFP
Relegated last season, the Kojos intend to spend just one season in a Top 14 waiting room.
Patrice Collazo Brive, the only one to fall out of the Top 14 last season, is the favorite for the 2023-2024 Pro D2 season, which starts Thursday with a form still consistent among the other contenders in the final stage, from Grenoble to Provence. Rugby, via Van aux Mont-de-Marsan. The Prevestes, who only lingered for one season in the elite waiting room after their last outing in 2018, will they quickly take the elevator again?
Their budget, the largest in the tournament (around 17 million euros), speaks for them, as does their recruitment, which many international players have come out of. The Welsh third line Ross Moriarty arrived during the last season significantly in Correez by the Australian second line Sitalike Timani, who was crowned French champion in 2017 with Clermont, or the Scottish center Sam Johnson.
Lovely people at Pro D2
CAB’s winning team will start its season in Agen on Friday, where the offseason was marked, after a series of twists and turns, by the failure of the sale to the current Biarritz bosses. The two clubs had to hastily complete their recruitment, but the soundtrack was fairly good with the contracts of English midfielder Jonathan Joseph, Welsh Rhys Webb, or right-hand column Mohamed Hawass, due to whom Clermont failed legally. setbacks.
The Basque club has the honor, on Thursday evening, to start the season in Aguilera against Colomiere, during the first day marked by another clash between the top six candidates, Van and Never.
Last season’s semi-finalists, the Breton team welcomed several experienced players in the upper division, including half-half Jules Le Bell (La Rochelle), second-row Anton Preisler (Racing 92) and center Alex Arati (Stade Français). Provence Rugby is also a scarecrow with the arrivals of Welsh prop Thomas Francis, Stade Français scrum half Arthur Covell and New Zealand Jimmy Gopperth, a monster of experience in the prime of his forty years.
Program of the first day:
Thursday
9:00 pm.
Biarritz Colomers
Friday
6:30 p.m.
Béziers – Soyaaux Angouleme
7:00 pm.
Grenoble – Mont-de-Marsan
Vanessa Nevers
Aurillac – rowan
Agen – Brave
Dax – Provence Rugby
Montauban – Valencia Romans
“Proud explorer. Freelance social media expert. Problem solver. Gamer. Extreme travel aficionado.”