Only 13 left in the Top 14

That's pretty much it for Bourgoin as they lost once again last night. Even with nine games left, there is almost no way for them to get out of being relegated. That leaves the 13 other teams to battle for the top 12 (well actually it's just 11, 12, and 13th battling).

It was a close match throughout until we pulled away late. We always had the lead, but felt the pressure the entire night. It was tied at 3 early, and then 10-9 at halftime. But that would be all the points Bourgoin could get and would finally go down 26-9.

We scored two tries, from our fly-half and center, just missing out on a bonus point (in the French league you only get a bonus point when you score 3 or more tries than your opponent). With Brive losing by 8, they didn't earn any points and stay at 26. La Rochelle nearly had a massive upset, leading against Toulon at Toulon, until a late try (thank you) saw Toulon squeeze out the victory (12-9). They earn 1 point for losing by less than 7, and move to 27. And with four points for our victory, we jump back up to 11th, with 28 points. It's all undecided for that 13th spot and it will probably stay that way until the last match of the season when we play Brive at home.

Amlin Cup is Over for Agen

It was not too long ago I was talking about how much different our defense had been playing compared to the early part of the season. But after three losses, and over 150 points scored against us, it looks like we've taken massive downward spiral in this regard.

We lost last Thursday in Gloucester by a score of 60 - 7. I didn't go, nor was I able to view the match, however, it seemed, after talking with teammates, much of the disaster was due to our defense and missed tackles. The Amlin Cup is over for us, but as I said previously, it may not be a bad thing. What is definitely bad, is a scoreline of over 60 for your opponent, 2 out of 3 weeks.

This week is going to be the match that may decide our season. Without a win we can almost guarantee a departure out of the Top 14 next season. However, I believe this won't be the case, and once again this Agen team will win in a 'must-win' situation.

On off-the-field news, we had another wondeful time with our most recent guests, Lauren's brother, Cam, and his girlfriend, Sarah. They left this morning to finish their trip in Rome before departing back to their home in Salt Lake. They were able to spend 6 days with us, traveling around to some nearby cities of Agen during that time. More on their trip and pictures to follow.

Is Rest More Important than the Win?

This is a question asked many times, by many teams, throughout the season in France. With 26 Top 14 matches, at least 6 in European Cup, and then other preseason or friendlies, each team plays at least 35 games in a season (which goes from August to May). Of course no player plays all of these matches, but there are some who play most. And it's finding the right times to rest these players throughout the season, usually during matches you can afford to not win.

After last weeks beheading, I think the coaches realized that playing the same players almost 8 weeks in a row comes at a cost. In an Amlin Cup match that meant everything if we were in it to win it, the coaches instead put their eggs in the Top 14 basket and rested players. They realized guys were just plain tired, more mentally than physically, and that's everything in a game like this. I think only the hooker started both the Biarritz match and the Amlin Cup match against La Rochelle, everyone else was either on the bench or out of the 23.

After saying all this, it was still quite a competitive game, as La Rochelle rested many of their players as well. We were leading 17-16 with 17 minutes to go, but after back-to-back tries via mauls, the La Rochelle team finished the game on top, with the final of 28-17. What this means is the Amlin Cup is pretty much over, however, this is actually good for us. We have at least one less game by not advancing. Meanwhile, La Rochelle will most likely have one more. This will be good in regards to our Top 14 competition, and hopefully help us stay out of relegation.

Thursday we play at Gloucester for our final Amlin Cup match.

Agen crushed, 65-22.

Early in the season we were able to take down the highly competitive Biarritz Club that resides in the Basque country of France. It was a great game to play in, scoring my first try in Top 14 competition. Morever, the victory came over my USA teammate, Takudza Ngwenya, who is not only an amazing player, but stand up person as well. In this match we both played right wing, in other words, not against each other.

Thirteen games later we met again, however, this time we were playing against one another. Whether it was because I know how good of a player he is, or because I haven't played many games for Agen over the past two months, I was highly anxious, a little intimidated and super focused before the match.

Unfortunately, these emotions were short-lived as it was the worst performance of the season for Agen. We were beat everywhere on the field, left, right and center. Our narrow margin of victory 4 months ago felt amazing, but I couldn't imagine how a 40 point victory felt for them. They put up 10 tries to 3, in a 65-22 victory (Taku had 2 of those). 

Last post a reader asked what it's like playing against some of the best players in the world...well let me tell you. The concentration level for a match like this is already at ridiculously high levels, but now you have to focus on a single player as well. You have to do your role, and know where he is at all times. His first touch was an explosive run in which he ran one player over and continued while another three more finally took him down. His first try came when the Biarritz scrumhalf gave a great dummy to get through and with only the cover defense to beat, he passed to Taku; who with still much to finish, raced past one, handed off our big number 8, then ran past another to finish the try. Playing against a player like this is terrifying, yet exhilirating. I find I play my best rugby when it's against the best players. Your courage overcomes fear, which in turn gives you confidence. However, this time around I never had the opportunity to prove it and in a situation like this you can only say "job well done," and hope that next time it's a better challenge.

Next 2 weeks are Amlin Cup Matches, and then we have an all important game at home vs. Bourgoin.

Toulouse Ends 5 game winning streak...but Agen comes back to beat Bayonne

After having lost 7 in a row, it wasn't looking good for our rugby club in little Agen. However, we won our last 3 in the Top 14 and 3 of 4 in the Amlin Cup matches. With a 5 game winning streak ahead of our Toulouse match, even though they are #1 in the Top 14, we were feeling quite confident in our chances.  In the heart of winter in France, it was ironically a great night for rugby and there was a maxed out stadium to view as well. All this set up a great opportunity to take down the Giant Toulouse.

However, it took no more than 6 minutes to get their first 3 points on the board and it was all Toulouse in the first 20 minutes, tallying 16 points. It looked all but done, until we finally got on the board with a 3-pointer. The scoring continued, but slowed for Toulouse in the first half, ending at 25-3.

Over the last 7 or 8 games, the difference in our losing streak and winning streak has been our defense. We are realigning better/faster, tackling harder (and more often), and as a result, teams are drastically scoring less. Against Toulouse, we came out hard, and continued this aggressive play. Unfortunately there were lapses, which, against the best team, led to points. However, our defense quickly came back in the second half and we finished the way we wish we could have started, winning the second stanza 5-0. The final score was 25-8.

Against Bayonne, we learned from our mistakes. It was defense, defense, defense. They couldn't do anything offensively, and we were just waiting for the right time to strike during the match. To start the game we controlled possession and played advancing rugby, but just couldn't finish off the try at the end. It did lead to a 9-0 first half lead however, which was suitable considering how our defense was playing. The only difference in the second half was that we had to play a lot more defense, but it never faltered. They may have kept the ball longer, but big hit after big hit eventually led to a turnover.

After having missed most of the last 7 matches, I finally found myself on the bench, and eventually on the field. With my first touch of the ball, I stepped through the defensive line after a nice pass from a teammate, and then I set up another player for a try. Personally, it was nice to get back on the field, but even better, for the team I provided a big impact coming off the bench. That try sealed it with 8 minutes to go and the game ended at 21-3.

Next week we play at Biarritz, where Takudza Ngwenya, the USA National Team winger makes his home.