Pro D2 - Semi Final Review - Brive v Montauban

The livestream is in full swing so far tonight, so fingers crossed we can catch all the build up tonight! The Brive fanbase are out in force and the atmosphere before the game looks electric! Now its time for Brive to back up their season in front of their home fans with a massive Brive Tifo in the home stand! Montauban have brought the drums and the Ultras banners to compete with the giant sparklers going off around the pitch! Imagine seeing this at Ampthill or Richmond Park!

The pitch fills with black and white smoke from the fireworks going off as the players enter the pitch! Brive will take the kick off to get the game underway once the smoke clears.

The ball is deep into the Montauban 22 from kick off and Moriarty it all over it. Ball is won by Brive at the breakdown, and they go on the attack. In the excitement to get over the line, the ball is knocked on and Montauban get the scrum put in on their 5 metre line. Montauban manage to get the exit and clear the decks with Brive to restart with a lineout just in their half.

Stuart Olding manages to break the line and a lovely cat flap offload gets Brive a few more metres. They go for the nudge over the top but its gathered by Montauban, with another accurate box kick to exit in Brive half. The kick tennis then begins but ended by a Montauban knock on near their 10 metre line. 5 minutes gone and we have a Brive scrum. Scrum penalty goes to Brive as the scrum collapses. Curwin Bosch is going for the posts close to the Montauban 10m line but drags it wide.

7 minutes gone, Montauban restart from the 22 drop out. Ball is received on the Brive 22, they then begin kicking between the 22s with Stuart Olding ending the Tennis match close to the Montauban 10. Montauban clear the decks back to the Brive 22, where Erwan Dridi knocks on, then its gathered up in a offside position. Montauban get the penalty attempt, and Jerome Bosviel makes it 0- 3 to Montauban after 10 minutes.

Brive jump the line early at the restart and are pinged for offside, giving a scrum on halfway to Montauban. Montauban get it out of the scrum, out wide to Joshua Vici with his white and green haor today, then win the lineout off Moriarty. Montauban over throw the lineout, it manages to make it out wide, after a scrappy knock around the ball is gathered for a try by Yvan Reilhac, then converted by Jérome Bosviel in the corner. Montauban are 0 -10 after 14 minutes.

Montauban go on the attack again from the restart but end up with a knock on the Brive 22. Brive go quick and its run back hard by Josh Vici , Brive are pinged at the breakdown. Then the obligatory Pro D2 scrap begins!

Montauban have a penalty on the Brive 10 metre line, and they are going for the sticks again. Bosviel sticks it straight down the middle, its 0 - 13 after 18 minutes. Brive look a bit shell shocked.

Brive give Montauban a scrum for a knock on after the restart. Montauban will start the next assuault from their own 22. A early shove from Brive, give Montauban a really easy exit. Lineout on the Brive 10, is thrown long to Kyllian Ringuet. But he is isolated and easy pickings for Courtney Lawes. Brive get to put the ball deep into the Montauban 22 now. The lineout was scrappy but Montauban knock on, giving Brive the advantage to play forward. Olding nearly finds the perfect cross field kick, but Matias Moroni Pavlovsky cant gather and knocked on in the process. Montauban have a scrum on their 5 metre line to defend, but another easy collapsing penalty gives Montauban a easy exit.

24 minutes gone, but the clearance kick is poor and Montauban have to try to play out from their 22. Lineout is stolen by Brive, and they spin it out wide to the far side. Another handling error gives Montauban a scrum back near their 22. The collapsing at the scrum goes in the favour of Brive this time, and should be a easy kick for Bosch to slot and steady the Brive ship. Bosch nails the kick and its now 3 - 13 after 27 minutes.

Brive make a sublime exit from their 22 through Mathis Fertile, managing to make a territory gain back to the Montauban 10 and not on the full. Lineout is won by Montauban and they kick it clear, Brive are going to run the ball back, but can only make it to their 10. They opt to kick clear but the rocket boot of Bosviel nearly makes a 22 to 22 kick. Brive have the lineout and they manage to gather the ball and set off with some hard running, They opt to kick again though and after 30 minutes we have a spell of forward play. Brive win a penalty at the breakdown on the Montauban 22 for not releasing, then a few handbags and pushing begins. The TMO is involved for a shot to the head by Simon Pierre Chauvac. Penalty overturned and Chauvac will spend the next 10 minutes in the bin.

31 minutes gone and Bosviel puts Brive back towards their 10 metre, Montauban get the lineout right but spill the ball in the next phase. Brive have a scrum now, Nathan Fraissenon comes on for Moriarty to give them a front row. Brive get the advantage from another collapse attempt, and some afters get Montauban marched back another 10 metres. Brive get the ball down onto the Montauban 22, but don’t execute the lineout. But their line speed causes a rushed Montauban exit, and another lineout in the 22. A messy lineout still lands in Brive hands and they win a penalty on the 22 after Montauban play the 9 illegally.

Kick for the 5 metre line out is good, the lineout is good but the maul is stuck. Montauban seal the ball up and win the turnover. A huge win for Montauban there, they get to exit with a scrum. Bosviel gets the ball towards the 10 for the clearance kick. Brive nail the lineout and start the phases. Its short lived when they come back along the blind and 11 puts a foot into touch under pressure. Montauban lineout is good but they get pinged at the breakdown for holding on. Brive go for the corner, its only at the 22. Brive are messy at the lineout maul and win the turnover again.

Whistle blows and Montauban are 3 - 13 ahead at the break! There won’t be many that expected this scoreline so far.

The Brive cheerleaders are on the pitch for the halftime show. We get to watch the half time talks too, what a spectacle for free Friday night Rugby!

Brive are first out to the sparklers but they have to get on top of the occasion quickly. Brive have to find a way to stop Bosviel controlling the game for Montauban. This next 40 minutes will be unreal!

Mathis Fertile makes a poor exit kick from the restart, Brive are pinged for the offside retrieval. Montauban get the kick attempt close to the 22, Bosviel takes the full time to make the kick but slots it. 3 - 16 to Montauban after 42 minutes.

Brive are back to 15 now and put the restart in the Montauban 22. Brive get a advantage for a tackle in the air by Josh Vici. Allowing Brive to go forward under advantage but are not really gaining much territory. They opt to kick but don’t gain anything. They come back for the advantage, kick the ball to the 22, they nail the lineout. However, they sneak back along the blind and push the pass forwards which is unnecessary but exciting to see the flambouancy.

45 minutes in, Montauban have a scrum on their 22 to escape. Brive are preparing their bomb squad to come on, but their scrum destroys Montauban driving them back. A few hand bags again. Brive send on 7 changes to cause a bit of destruction, Courtney Lawes survives the changes. Brive lineout near the 5 metre line, a phenomenal lineout sets up a rampaging maul. There was no stopping that and Benjamin Boudou makes the grounding. Bosch narrowly makes the conversion, its 48 minutes gone with the score now 10 -16.

Josh Vici misses a chance to gather a error at the restart for Brive, but they get the scrum on their 22. Brive win the scrum penalty again for collapsing infront of the ref, you can’t slip your bind like that so obviously infront of the ref. Brive are quick to kill the space after their exit and manage to make it diffcult for Montauban to escape their half. Lawes secures the turnover on the Brive 10 metre line,

Ball is slotted to the Montauban 22, lineout is good and they go through the phases. Montauban seal off at the breakdown with a easy opportunity now for Bosch to kick for the sticks from the 22. We are now at the 54th minute and Brive take it to 13 - 16.

Courtney Lawes now makes his way from the turf, will this give Montauban hope they can keep the advantage? Montauban win a lineout on the Brive 10 from the restart, Brive go hard on the defensive line but Bosviel has slipped into the pocket near the halfway line. Surely not?! He only slots it!!!!! I thought the Sam Davies kick was unreal last night, but Bosviel has said hold my beer!

Its 13 - 19 after 55 minutes, Brive have to step up now for the restart. Its cleared by that rocket boot from Bosviel though. Brive run it back and manage to win another penalty on the Montauban 10 metre line. Quercy is pinged for hands on the deck and gets the team Yellow card that has been coming. The captain goes for 10 minutes rest on the 56th minute mark. Olding opts to kick for the corner rather than the posts.

Brive are 5 metres out again, can the new impetus at the lineout maul go again. The maul is collapsed illegally but its not a penalty try. Brive get another 5 metre lineout but fudge the 9 man maul attempt, gifting the ball to Montauban.Bosviel sends it only to the 22 this time but it was a hard kick to make. Brive go long at the 22 lineout but its stolen by Montauban at the back. They kick over the top, Brive go to play out but spill the pill and its gathered by Vici. Brive trip Joe Powell when Benjamin Le Franc was on the deck, as he comes away from the ruck, very lucky not to get pinged for that. Montauban have a penalty kick on the Brive 22. The TMO steps in and Le Franc gets 10 minutes in the bin.

Its 60 minutes into the game and Brive look to be in self destruct mode for this Semi Final! Bosviel goes for the sticks, he is at 100% for the night so far but he drags this one wide. Brive dot down and go for the 22 drop out. It ends up on the Montauban 22. Montauban run it straight back, they force a Brive clearnace close to halfway. A quick Montauban lineout gets the game underway again, they want to keep the ball alive but they try to push it. Spill the ball and then make a high tackle trying to retrieve. Brive kick it in play on the 22 allowing Maxime Espeut to charge straight back at them!

63 minutes on the clock and Montaluban are on the attack again, they drop Bosviel back and let him unleash a spiral kick into the sky. Bosch doesn’t gather properly, the ball is loose. A tackle off the ball gives Brive the advantage, Bosviel gathers the kick away from Brive. Bosviel is caught late as him tries to pass the ball back inside and avoid touch, the afters start there and where the ball is gathered up too. The ref has controlled this game very well tonight even with the testosterone flying around.

The ball is brought back to the Brive 22 for the tackle off the ball, Brive put themselves just inside the Montauban 22. Fortunel comes on for Bosviel who receives a standing ovation and deservedly! Brive go long from the lineout, the maul is stopped dead and Montauban get the turnover penalty. Montauban get the scrum pretty much on halfway again, 66 minutes and the scrum is reset again. Montauban get the ball out and go on the attack, Powell is pulling the strings now. But the ball ends up being spilled loose in the breakdown, brive go for another crazy pass to clear. Its not gathered by a Brive player, JT Jackson dives on the ball and manages to slide over from the 5 metre line to secure the game?

The conversion from Fortunel takes it to 13 - 26 now after 69 minutes. Brive then knock on from the restart. They are in self implosion mode at the minute! with 11 minutes left, they have to really dig deep now.

Montauban scrum on their 10 metre line, and Brive get pinged again at the scrum. Montauban clear towards the 22, Brive sloppy in the collection and then make an error handing the ball back to Montauban. Montauban win a scrum 30 metres out from the Brive try line on the 72nd minute. The scrum is driven back and advantage is awarded, they go for a grubber to the corner to get a try but its not gathered. They return to the 30 metre mark for Fortunel to take the penalty kick. He slots it and now 13 - 29 after 73 minutes.

Brive go chasing at the restart again but ill discipline is clear at the breakdown again. The Montauban Ultras are in full song in green now!

75 minutes and Brive have to throw everything at the wall now. Brive get a few penalties on the bounce and have to opt for the tap and go. They make it to the Montauban 10 metre line, but the defensive pressure makes another handling error and Montauban scrum close to the halfway line, Brive fans have their heads in hands while the Montauban fans are dancing in between them.

Brive have to get 2 converted tries and a penalty in the next 3 minutes! They win the penalty at the scrum and kick to the corner, The lineout is spot on but the maul is stopped dead again, they get teh ball out but can’t make the metres to get over from 5 metres out so far. It ends with a Montauban knock on in gathering a kick over the top. Brive have a scrum at 5 metres out but its just a matter of fact now, the scrum is reset again. The clock goes red.

Montauban go on the offensive and fdrive the scrum back a few metres. They win the penalty, then manage to kick to touch and end the game!

This is a FA Cup style giant killing and Montauban head onto Toulouse next weekend! The Green Army go marching on!