Olympique Marqua beat Vienne 23-10 on Thursday evening in the National tournament, closing a run that had seen the visitors lose five straight. The hosts, who had only one victory in their last five, held on after a patchy start. We had called this for the home side at 69 per cent confidence, and the result followed the line we expected. Vienne came in having not won since August, which showed in the way they set up.
The match itself was not a thriller. Marqua controlled the tempo in the middle periods, and Vienne's defence looked tired by then. The visitors picked one up last week against Rouen, but it did not carry into this fixture. Their back row were second to everything in the tackle area, and the hosts took advantage.
We were right about the hosts winning, and it was not a surprise. Vienne's recent record spoke for itself — five defeats, zero points from those games. Marqua, meanwhile, had beaten Surness 14-23 and nothing more. The gap between the two sides was visible from the first whistle.
There were no dramatic moments, no red cards, no late comebacks. Marqua scored first and kept knocking on the door when Vienne tried to respond. The visitors would have needed a clean sheet and a few lucky breaks, neither of which arrived. The final score of 23-10 reflected the day.
For Marqua, the win lifts them off the bottom and gives them some momentum. Vienne remain winless in 2026, and the table will not be kind to them. The hosts now have one foot in the next round of conversation about their season. The visitors have a lot of work to do before they can look up.