Massy Aren't Here for Messing

By ethanjbradley · Massy, Essonne, Paris, France

Rugby Club Massy Essonne 41–23 SC Albi · Nationale 1 · Stade Jules Laboumègue · 2026-10-17 · Player of the match: Greg Hutley

Massy's bid to gain promotion back to ProD2 for the first time since 2018/19 took a massive leap on Saturday evening after defeating league rivals SC Albi by 18 points (41-23).

SC Albi travelled to Stade Jules Laboumègue (over 660km) in south Paris looking to give Massy their first taste of defeat this season in round 8. The evening sun was deceptive as there was an autumnal chill in the air with a breeze blowing from left to right in favour of the home side in the first half.

Albi outhalf Romain Uruty commenced the eagerly anticipated top of the table encounter with a drop-off kick landing just outside Massy's 22 and winning a penalty due to Massy's defence being offside. Uruty slotted the kick for 3 points and Albi were suddenly 0-3 ahead after 2mins of play.

Massy's Irish outhalf Greg Hutley restarted the game with a drop-off aided by the breeze and landed it deep into Albi's 22. After a good exit by Albi for a line-out towards halfway, Massy's #13 Tom Cusson made a big break from his own half to bring Massy within 2 metres of scoring a try. A quick ruck ensued catching the Albi defence offside before Massy were held up over the line. Massy elected for a quick tap from prop #1 Romain Poipy and he barrelled over with a strong carry to score the first try of the game after 6mins for the home side. Hutley slotted the conversion. 7-3. Electric start.

Both teams certainly showed up to play, with quality hands and carries aiming to get the ball out to the wings quickly. Uruty & Hutley exchanged kicks to make the scoreline 10-6 after 20mins. Massy began to make some mistakes afterwards which looked to have opened up a purple patch for Albi, especially after a big carry on 31mins from Albi #13 Baptiste Couchinave in the 22 to bring play to 5 metres on penalty advantage. Albi could only gain an extra 3 points during this period before Massy landed a killer blow on 36mins with the try of the game.

A ruck was formed just outside the Albi 22 with Massy scrum-half #9 Loris Rouet passing to #2 Charles Elgoyhen who found his out-half (former All-Ireland league Ballynahinch player) Hutley on a block run. Hutley carved through the defence like a hot knife through butter to score and finish a wonderful move. Jouer-jouer. Conversion kicked and Massy went into mi-temps (half time) 17-9 in the lead.

Albi came out of the blocks early in the second half with a try scored by #11 Mathieu Galtier and conversion scored by Uruty to make it a 1-point game (17-16) after 45mins. It was all Albi after half time until Massy marched up the field penalties and eventually mauled over the line to score through substitute hooker #16 Pierre Trassoudaine after a line-out. Hutley added the extras to make it 24-16 after 50mins.

The game entered a lengthy break at 53mins after Massy substitute South African #23 Nolan Pienaar went down awkwardly colliding with his own player #20 Madioké Konaté in the midst of a tackle. He could be seen alerting to the bench right away that something was wrong. Play stopped for c.10mins with Pienaar stretchered off.

Both teams made strong carries through their respective forwards and play remained between both 22's for 10mins until Albi scored a well-worked try on 56mins from a deft Uruty grubber kick behind the Massy defence 10 metres out for Galtier to score his second try of the game. Uruty conversion. Back to a 1-point game (24-23) after 60mins.

Hutley kicked the restart deep into Albi's 22 and re-gathered possession from the box-kick with a strong carry from Massy #14 Amona Artaud to bring play back into the Albi 22. Massy were patient with ball-in-hand and eventually scored a try after Tom Cusson went over in the corner on 58mins to make the scoreline 29-23. Hutley missed from a difficult angle.

With 20mins left on the clock, it was a repeat of Albi threatening with their attack coming to no avail thanks to the strong Massy defence.

The sealing moment of the game came after 70mins when Massy fullback #15 Martin Carré intercepted a loopy pass from Albi #12 Victor Pasono and he ran the field unopposed to make the scoreline 36-23. Albi tried their best to claw back the deficit but there was no gap in the disciplined blue & black wall. Massy's substitute hooker Pierre Trassoudaine would then go over for his second try of the game after a pick-and-go in the corner in the closing minute with Hutley missing the conversion afterwards. Fin du match, 41-23.

The game was well-disciplined with no cards shown by the referee and played at a quick pace, with great quality on show. The only negative to report on after the game was the injury to Nolan Pienaar of Massy who could be sidelined for a long time. Wishing him a speedy recovery!

Massy continue their unbeaten run going into journée 9 (round 9) top of the league where they will face bottom of the league US Bressane in the east of France (417km) on Friday 30 October. SC Albi, who are now placed 4th on the table, will host 2nd placed Chambéry on the same evening in what will be a +500km journey for the visitors.

Rugby Club Massy Essonne:
1. Robin Poipy
2. Charles Elgoyhen
3. Tijde Visser (South Africa)
4. Noé Bedou
5. Yakine Djebbari
6. Giani Gamba
7. Alexandre Loubière (C)
8. Raphaël Nieto
9. Loris Rouet
10. Greg Hutley (Ireland)
11. Ilian El Yahyaoui
12. Luca Mignot
13. Tom Cusson
14. Amona Artaud
15. Martin Carré

Substitutes: 16. Pierre Trassoudaine; 17. Siegfried Fisi'ihoi (Tonga); 18. Nicolas Riou; 19. Andrei Mahu (Moldova); 20. Madioké Konaté; 21. Lucas Rubio; 22. Antonin Vidalenc; 23. Nolan Pienaar (South Africa)

SC Albi:
1. Aymeric Lager
2. Romain Maurice
3. Alex Dos Santos
4. Nathan Gendre
5. Jack Whetton (New Zealand)
6. Robin Dioné
7. Enzo Moreau
8. Jean-Baptiste Lachaise (C)
9. Alexandre Favretto
10. Romain Uruty
11. Mathieu Galtier
12. Victor Pisano
13. Baptiste Couchinave
14. Antoine Bouzerand
15. Téo Dospital

Subs: 16. Florian Lamothe; 17. Yann Dour; 18. Victor Fromentèze; 19. Yanis Horvat (Romania); 20. Athur Diaz; 21. Cédric Soulé; 22. Julian Guiraud; 23. Kévin Yameogo

Referee: Regis Guatelli