Before SU Agen - Stade Montois. "We're going to Agen to play a big game": the survival derby is already underway

One thing is certain, the Montois will not give any gifts to the Agenais condemned to victory to save their place in Pro D2, this Friday, May 16 (9 p.m.). Atmosphere

Two venues, two atmospheres but the same goal: to win. A cliché of professional sport, certainly, except that for the Agenais, a defeat could make them lose big, very big. It is neither more nor less than their place in Pro D2 which will be at stake this Friday (9 p.m.) at Armandie. And even if the evening visitors are already saved , the pressure is maximum: "They come to win," they assure in the blue and white ranks. To be convinced, you only have to listen to the Landes declarations which showed their colors as soon as the victory acquired at Boniface at the end of the ^29th day : "Motivated by the fact of sending Agen to the play-off? That could play a role," said Yoann Laousse-Azpiazu.

"We warned the players, we're going there to play a big game. Not to travel and just suffer."

Once mentioned on the banks of the Garonne, the full-back intends not to waste the last match of the season – and of his career – by trying to secure a fourth victory in five matches in the derby: "We're going to try to prepare as best we can for this match. The president has set us a little challenge, we're going to try to rise to it. I think it could be interesting. But in Agen, it's their problem."

Much more than a problem, it's a matter of survival. What's more, unprecedentedly, SUA has never had to fight for its place in Pro D2 in the last round of the championship. "It was written that we would have to suffer until the end," summarized Sébastien Calvet, a bit fatalistically, after the narrow defeat conceded to Dax (10-9).

Neither the SUA manager nor his players expect to see the Montois arrive empty-handed, knowing that they too have a reputation to restore after a season that has seen them flirt with the relegation zone more than once. "Who we send to the playoffs, Aurillac or Agen, I don't really care," said center Gatien Massé. "I just want to finish the season well and show a good image."

And if they can also take their revenge for the first leg (23-28), they will not hold back . "It's not a question of sending the SUA to the play-offs, it's the dynamic, summarized the coach of the Montois forwards, Romain Mareuil. We are going to Agen to play a big game. We want to see what we are capable of doing away from home in a last game. We know that it will be very tough, that it will sting, Agen is playing for survival. But we warned the players, we are going there to play a big game, not to travel and just suffer. We want to be active, to keep the dynamic and a state of mind."

Mental strength, in fact, will be one of the weapons Valentin Gayraud and his teammates will have to use against them . They have an institution to save and a fan base to win back, rather than simply ending their four-game losing streak. "We have to put everything aside, we can't talk about what happened before. We have to save the club in Pro D2, so we need everyone. We'll have to put our egos aside and come to the stadium to cheer on our team," he insisted in the corridors of Maurice-Boyau. "Mindset will be paramount." Just like victory.