The third-leading team in passing yards on the season (22,107…
Third team that gains the most distance on foot on the season (22,107 meters), the Paloise Section is also the 5th to travel the most with the ball under the arm (11,913 meters), multiplying the races to achieve this (3,265 , 2a).
A fierce desire not to share with the precious oval that is in its leading position in the number of successful passes (4,098, 1st).
Paradoxically, this desire to have and keep the ball alive (208 post-contact passes, 4th) is accompanied by little waste, since the Greens and the whites are the ones who lose the least ammunition in the championship (314, 14). The editorial team advises you.
Set out again to conquer
They still have to become stronger in attack to take a step forward. If they shine in taking the advantage line (1,778 balls played with crosses, 2i), they still struggle to clearly hit the opposing defensive curtains, as evidenced by their 6th place in the number of crosses (127 ) or 10th place in the ranking, of defenders beaten (527) or total attempts scored (68).
To score more, the Section will have to continue to take care of their offensive rucks (2322 won, 1st), while contesting those of the opponent more (133 scratched balls, 13th).
Without forgetting to restore the purpose of his conquest. If the touch was a generally effective launching plan, with the less porous alignment of the Top 14 (45 lost touches, 14th), the same cannot be said of the scrum, which costs 47 (8th) penalties on 263 (13th).
For everything to come together well, you need a driver who is up to the task. Arriving from Exeter last summer, Joe Simmonds immediately took up the baton to dictate the time in Pau. The 27-year-old fly-half, champion of Europe and England 2020, has allowed the Section Paloise to extend its range.
His technical abilities allow Geoffrey Lanne-Petit to widen the spectrum of offensive combinations around him. It’s up to the English to make the right move. While he doesn’t attack the line often, Simmonds is a talented and reliable player.
Good foot, good eye
The best director in the Top 14 with 246 points scored, he scored an average of 11.2 units per game, making him the second highest scorer in the championship. In front of the poles, the former U20 international does not tremble.
With 83.3% success in the exercise (95/114, 19 misses), he is the 9th most skilled scorer in the elite. And 2, we only consider players who have attempted more than 100 shots on goal in the season.
In the game, he is also 2nd in kicks (184), 5th in the number of yards gained (5522) and 4th if we look at kicks after his team retained possession (24). A real metronome.
Two behind, one in front. This season, the Section Paloise was able to count on three men in particular to lower the opposing barriers, in very different styles.
Wing Théo Attissogbe (235, 4th), defender Jack Maddocks (223, 5th) and 3rd row Beka Gorgadze (209, 9th) are all in the top 10 of players who made the most runs with the danced in Top 1, cross the advantage line upwind or put the defenders in the wind, Attissogbe (128 5th and 82 2nd) and Gorgadze (123 7th, 55 9th) shone.
Maddocks, on the ground and in the air
Sparkling, the young winger is also the best passer in the championship (24) and the one who gains more meters with the ball (1743). In his watch, Emilien Gailleton also took some breaks (18, 3rd) and Maddocks swallowed the distance (1,437 meters, 3rd).
Under high balls, the Australian is by far the best in France (110 catches). And he stands out for his taste for passing after contact (22, 8th), like Beka Gorgadze (19, 16th).
As for Théo Attissogbe, 3rd most playing time in the elite (1743 minutes) behind Gailleton (1906 minutes), he did not forget his box of tricks, with 4 interceptions made, as Luke Whitelock and Samuel Ezeala.
The number 45 mauls won by Guillaume Ducat (3rd), who caused 2 penalty attempts and 7 penalties