Following Pau’s 41-17 win over Leicester Tigers at Stade du Hameau, here are our five key takeaways from the Investec Champions Cup clash.
The top line
Pau overcame a 10-3 deficit part-way through the first-half to secure a resounding win over Leicester, announcing themselves as possible dark horses for the remainder of the competition.
Inspired by the brilliance of France star Théo Attissogbe, Pau overcame Leicester’s strong start to take a slender 17-10 lead into the sheds at half-time, with Rodrigo Marta and Jon Zabala scoring for the hosts after Ollie Chessum had opened Tigers’ account in the seventh minute.
However, it was much more one-sided after half-time, with Pau scoring 24 points to Leicester’s seven, thanks to more tries from Marta, Aaron Grandidier Nkanang and Fabien Brau-Boirie – the five-two try count earned them a bonus point under the new competition rule – as well as Axel Desperes’ haul of 16 points off the boot.
Back to basics
The scoreline got away from Leicester, which is actually a touch unfair as this was a proper European tie for pretty much the whole game. It ebbed and flowed beautifully across the 80 minutes, there was real bite in the contact, some clever attack and both sides played with a distinct identity.
The Champions Cup often gets a harsh rep at this early stage in the season, and a random one-off fixture in the middle of an early-season domestic block doesn’t help, but this was a nice reminder of what it can be like.
Hold your nerve
Pau could have easily let the game pass them by after slipping to a 10-3 deficit after 18 minutes and Leicester baying for blood; but they refused to succumb to pressure, held their nerve and powered home.
We’ll come onto exactly how they managed to run away with the game, but this was a masterclass in making the most of your momentum. Leicester seemed to have a vice-grip on the game in that opening stanza after a clever kicking strategy, pinning the hosts deep into their own half and then gaining territory off the back of it.
However, when Pau’s gamebreakers came into the game, momentum did as dramatic a backflip as it can do in a game of rugby. Everything seemed to go Pau’s way; offloads started sticking, holes started opening up from literally nowhere and kicks got that extra lucky bounce to find themselves back in the hands of a player wearing dark green.
It was like a video game at times, and Pau made the most of it. Their two first-half tries came not only in quick succession but instantly followed periods of sustained Leicester possession. It was a perfect combination, a left and right goodnight in boxing terms. That was also followed up with an early score in the second-half, extending the lead to 14 points.
Even when Leicester did eventually get their second try through Archie van der Flier, Pau slotted a penalty kick with their first possession post those points. That should serve as the metaphor for Pau’s display: when they got a chance, they took points and it kept them at arm’s length.
The hosts held their nerve, the hosts took their chances, the hosts took the spoils.
Moments of magic
With Pau caught in an early storm, you felt it was going to take something extraordinary to get them out of it. Step forward, Attissogbe. It seemed everything the France star turned to came off, producing moment of magic after moment of magic after moment of magic and almost single-handedly getting his team on the front foot.
It was his dazzling break from deep that set up Pau’s opening score in the first-half, at a time when Leicester were really dominating the aerial contest as well. That wasn’t his only try involvement, either, with him again getting his side out of trouble along the way to their second score. Crucially, that was the one that got them ahead in the game, a lead they didn’t relinquish.
He also played a big role in getting them out of trouble when Leicester started threatening in the second-half, and capped off his day with a pinpoint assist for Grandidier Nkanang.
It’s a scary sight to see him playing like this, unless you’re a Pau fan, that is. If you are, this display would have had you skipping home from the stadium.
What to make of Leicester
As mentioned above, the scoreline doesn’t really reflect the actual flow of the game, with Leicester playing some nice stuff in there. Billy Searle was an early candidtate for man of the match after a strong start, leading the Tigers around brilliantly in attack and piling the pressure on Pau with the boot as well, while the likes of Freddie Steward and Olly Cracknell also stood tall.
But they should have taken more from this game. They could have had a win if they were the ones to hold their nerves. Leicester were deservedly leading at the halfway point of the opening 40, but it always felt like they needed to have a bigger lead for their dominance.
Come the end of the first-half, the Tigers had 58 per cent territory and 51 per cent possession but only had the one try to their name which came inside seven minutes and they were trailing. Missing the points that were there for the taking stung them, and they never quite managed to get back into the game.
Van der Flier’s try in the second-half injected some real life back into them, and you could see it in the way they played. It was like they’d returned to what worked so well in that opening period, albeit with the caveat of them trailing on the scoreboard; kicking into corners and trying to shift the pressure at every opportunity.
But this time, Pau dealt with it much better and used Leicester’s own strategy against them with some gorgeous counter-attacking play. Leicester will certainly be kicking themselves at the scoreline, but that doesn’t reflect their performance. They must remember that moving into next weekend’s East Midlands derby.