Rugby: Barracudas take on Archiball

In Saint-Jean on Saturday evening, the Barracudas senior team scored a convincing 23-3 victory over neighbors Saint-Martin in the 5th round of the Guadeloupe championship. The Barracudas were keen to make amends for their defeat at Bruc. The Saint Barths showed a very different side to their Abymian opponents of 15 days ago, in front of a crowd that was always ready to cheer their team on. With Romain Viriato doing well with his feet and Valentin Lalo once again the master of the air, the game quickly turned in the locals' favor. The try-scorers of the evening, Nicolas Génito and Kévin Bret-Dibat, had a field day. The score at half-time, 13-3, confirmed that the St Barths had woken up to the challenge of an Archiball team that was tough to handle and rough in contact, but lacked success in the zone of truth. "We advanced in the impacts, we dominated the collisions and the mauls, and this pushed our Archiball neighbors to the foul", summarized Gauthier Perriguet, the Barracudas' player-coach. Indeed, the blues and whites remembered that rugby is a game of winning ground, where penalties reward the physical commitment of the most motivated and best organized team. Gauthier Perriguet added: "The staff and I are very satisfied, because after our setback against Bruc, we started a cycle of defensive work, and it paid off! We've kept our in-goal line inviolate, which is a pleasure! "
With this North Island derby in the bag, the Barracudas find themselves one point behind Good Luck du Gosier, currently in 2nd place in the league. Next up on February 15, still in Saint Jean, is the reception of RC Goyave, currently in 4th place and 5 points behind the Saint-Barth rugbymen.