Rugby. "We'll do everything to prove ourselves": Grenoble wants to ward off bad luck in the Top 14 promotion play-off

This is not the least of the paradoxes of a sport whose ball bounces are capricious and which delights in giving its flock an emotional roller coaster ride. On this Saturday, June 14, 2025, both Grenoble and Perpignan residents would dream of being somewhere other than the Stade des Alpes. Rather, on vacation, enjoying the prospect of experiencing the next season in the Top 14.

But here's the thing: the unfortunate finalist of the Pro D2 and the unwilling 13th-placed player in the Top 14 have a meeting in the sweltering heat of the Isère stadium in the late afternoon (34°C expected at kickoff). What will be a moment of immense happiness for one and a terrible disappointment for the other. No alternative.

"We still have an opportunity, another big deadline. We live for this, we're competitive. Facing off against a good team is always incredibly exciting," says Antonin Berruyer, aware of the "second chance" given to his team. The FCG captain knows it: Grenoble will not win the championship shield this season. Grenoble failed to reach the final against Montauban (19-24). But Grenoble has the opportunity to put that behind us. To finally achieve its goal of reaching the Top 14.

He still needs to get rid of the excess disappointment and frustration that marked his time after June 7 and the days that followed this third lost final.

"It's still sticking in our craw," confesses the Grenoble captain. But each day that has passed has helped the Rouge et Bleu move from a failed objective to a performance objective. "We're still upset about what happened last week. We spent time together, we worked together. And then we completely changed."

The feeling of revenge, in sport, is a double-edged sword. And if revenge is to be had, the Isérois will have to take it upon themselves. It's a question here of pride, of a fierce desire to show one's worth to the (rugby) world after having failed, in part, on D-Day.

"Today, Perpignan is 13th in the Top 14 and we are not. Obviously, this club is above us in the rugby hierarchy, with its history and its mentality," analyzes Patrick Pézery, as cool and lucid as ever. "For our players, the priority is to show a different image of themselves. They carry within them this frustration from what happened in the final. For their family, for the public and for all the people who support them, honestly and faithfully, all of this is very important."

In these moments, the psychological and what comes out of your gut must take precedence over the rational: on the two Top 14 access matches won by Perpignan (against three lost by Grenoble); on the supposed superior value of Franck Azéma's Usap, diminished but sure of its strength and on all those who think that, on this Saturday, FCG has no chance of winning. The same ones, perhaps, who saw no chance for Montauban to be Pro D2 champion.

"I respect everyone's opinions, but I just want us to be respectful of the team and the work we do," Berruyer said. "For everyone at the club, it's been difficult to digest. We're going to do everything we can to prove to those who are behind us—and to those who wanted to turn away, to tell them to come back—that FCG is a great club."

Even though the prospect of a sixth failure in three years at the gates of the Top 14 exists, there is no better day to rewrite history.