French Top 14 round-two: Brive holds off Perpignan
Brive was able to come out the victor in their second game of the season at home against Perpignan over the weekend.
Brive held the lead the whole way through and was able to control play for the majority of the day, never once threatened by Perpignan. Brive opened a commanding 20-point, first half lead, as they took it to Perpignan early in the match. The second half proved to be easy for the home side, as they settled into a defensive structure and watched time wind down on a 26-11 victory.
Recap
Brive opened the scoring early with the boot of Mathieu Belie, who notched two penalties inside the five minute mark to give the home side a 6-0 lead.
Perpignan was able to close the gap with a penalty from Gilles Bosch in the seventh minute, making the game 6-3.
Nevertheless, Brive was able to extend their lead with the first try of the day from Damien Browne, who darted over the line in the 16th minute. After Belie kicked the conversion the home side's lead was transformed to 13-3.
It did not take long for Brive to strike again, this time with Gerhard Vosloo getting over the whitewash. Belie continued his perfect day from the tee notching another conversion to give Brive a comfortable 20-3 advantage.
The two sides remained quiet until Belie tallied a penalty in the 39th minute to send the two teams into the break separated by 20 points.
After the half Bosch was able to get his team back on the board for the first time since the seventh minute as the fly-half put a penalty through in the 48th minute to make the game 23-6.
Belie pushed the lead back out to 20 in the 52nd minute with his fourth penalty of the day.
Winger Julien Candelon crossed the line for Perpignan for their only try of the match in the 73rd minute. However, it was too little too late as Brive was able to let the clock run down on an impressive 26-11 win.
Brive was able to open up an early lead on Perpignan, and then settle into an impressive defensive game in the second half. Belie maintained a solid gap with his boot throughout the affair giving Brive the space they needed to remain comfortable in their game.
Analysis
Brive improved their record to 1-1 with the victory and showed that they can compete against teams in the upper echelon of the league.
Perpignan meanwhile could not force a repeat of last week’s form, and were poor on offence struggling to even put penalties through.
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