Oyonnax signed a seventh victory in a row, beating Soyaux-Angoulême 15-20 at the start of the 13th day.
But who will manage to bring down Oyonnax? The players of Ain, carried by a Gavin Stark on fire, are more than ever at the head of the Pro D2, after their seventh victory in a row, on the ground of Soyaux-Angoulême at the start of the 13th day: 15- 20 thanks to a very big second half. At the break, it was indeed the Charentais who were ahead in the score (15-5). Emmanuel Saubusse had opened the scoring on penalty from the 3rd minute (3-0), but Gavin Stark quickly left his box to go and score his first try of the game, in the left corner at the end of the alignment, while the action had started with a touch on the right side (3-5, 7th). No point was then scored until the half-hour mark, and Saba Pesvianidze’s try after close play (10-5, 30th), on an action that caused Florian Vialelle to be yellow carded . A fatal numerical inferiority in Oyonnax, who conceded a second try eight minutes later, by Martin Lestremau, in the left corner after a magnificent pass at the foot of Mathieu Ugalde (15-5, 38th).
Stark carries Oyonnax
But the Oyomen came back with completely different intentions in the second period, and they largely dominated their opponents. In the 44th, Gavin Stark, the New Zealand winger who arrived this summer from Biarritz, gave himself his second try of the evening, after a percussion from Thomas Laclayat and a great collective action concluded by a small slalom in the left corner (15-10, 44th). Shortly before the hour mark, Inaki Ayarza made a voluntary forward and received a yellow card, which the Ain club took advantage of two minutes later, with a new try from… Gavin Stark, again in the left corner by performing a small pirouette (15-17, 58th). Justin Bouraux has definitely sheltered his team by scoring a penalty three minutes from the siren, and it is therefore a new victory for Oyonnax. The Ain players are now six points ahead of Biarritz, who will travel to Grenoble, third, on Friday. For its part, Soyaux-Angoulême is 11th.