Allez Massy - Rugby Challenge 2

[tango602]

Allez Massy - A Rugby Challenge 2 Career

Recently started a career mode on Rugby Challenge 2 with Massy so thought I would document how it is going on here, hopefully you find it interesting, I normally play FIFA so not sure how well this will go, if you have any questions feel free to ask them and I will try my best to answer.

Starting Competition - Pro D2 (French Second Division)
Difficulty - Normal

Platform - Xbox 360

2012/13 Pre-Season

Went into my first pre-season with Massy hoping to win at least one of the four friendlies against fellow Pro D2 teams that had been lined up for me though I was not expecting any easy games as Massy were rated as the weakest team in the Pro D2 though I had changed the starting 15 and substitutes to include some better rated players, first up was a trip to Carcassonne where the game was pretty even but in the end I ended up with a 22-14 loss though I had been chasing the game from the start.

Following this was a friendly that I expected to be very difficult as a much stronger La Rochelle team were the visitors for my first game at home, as was to be expected I was heavily outplayed here but had a 7-0 lead at half time and near the end of the game was starting to believe I would get an upset win but they got a try and the conversion in the last five minutes to make it 7-7 which is how it finished, felt that was a very good result though.

Next up was a trip to play away to Auch which I felt could result in my first with as they were rated closer in strength to my team, however this matchup resulted in disappointment and a little frustration as I was outplayed and ended up losing by 10 points, had changed my left winger for this game but reversed that change following the match as I felt the change did not work out.

For the final pre-season friendly I had what was my closest matchup as Béziers were the visitors for a match I really hoped to win, thankfully this was a match where I controlled the game from start to finish and got a pretty handy 31-10 win in what I felt was definitely the best game I had during the pre-season friendlies and it gave me some hope ahead of starting the challenge of the league.

August 2012 - Pro D2

August 2012 marked the start of Pro D2 action for my Massy team who I noticed had an increase of team rating from 52.5 to 53.4 which I can only assume is down to the changes I made from the default lineup during pre-season.

There was just one Pro D2 match in August 2012 which was a home game against Albi, I was hopeful of getting something out of this encounter but was unsure how it would go as I did not know anything about the opposition, however I got off to a good start in this match and took a lead into half time, from there I was able to control the game and secured a 21-8 win as well as a bonus point for having scored 3 tries during the match, the last of which came after the 80 minutes were up though looking at the final stats it was pretty even in terms of possession and territory.

Rouge, Johnston and Delarue were the try scorers for me against Albi in the league opener.

Coming up in the next three league matches are trips to Pays D'Aix and Brive followed by a home match against Pau.

[tango602]

After the first league game of the season it was time to start getting to regular competitive action in September with a couple of matches in that month that I was expecting to struggle with as my Massy side had to travel to Brive and then host Pau, sandwiching these encounters were a trip to Pays D'Aix and a home game with Dax.

September 2012 - Pro D2

Following the opening game at home to Albi in August, my Massy team were one of several tied for the top spot in the Pro D2 with 5 points from the opening matchday, this gave me a bit of confidence heading into the first game of September away to Pays D'Aix who were not a familiar name to me and as a result I was not sure how this match would turn out.

As it turned out, Pays D'Aix gave me quite a tough match and it was only through their missed conversions that I was able to manage a 14-10 win and my first away win of the season which was definitely another confidence booster, however in this match Grégory Coudol who is my first choice scrum-half suffered a pinched nerve and is now out until November, in the meantime I have brought Elison Razafindrafahatra up into the starting 15 to take his place.

Next up was the first of the two games in this month where I was expecting to have a tough time as Brive were the opposition and due to their history which includes being European champions in 1997, I was not anticipating any joy in facing them at this point. However early on in the game things were looking good for me as I got an early 7-0 lead but from that point things were firmly in Brive's control and by the end of the matchup they came out as winners by a score of 20-7, pretty much on full time I had a chance to salvage a losing bonus point but this was not to be.

After the expected disappointment against Brive, it was time to host Pau in what was going to be another difficult encounter against a strong outfit, I was fearing it would be worse than my defeat to Brive due to Pau having a higher team rating, this turned out not to be the case though in what was a bit of a scrappy game with lots of penalties.

Most of these penalties were conceded by my Massy side for high tackles and really I should have had more than one player in the sin bin during this match, despite this though I was able to get a surprise 7-0 win thanks to a try on half time from Elison Razafindrafahatra and a try saving tackle on about my 5 metre line to stop what would have been a potential late-game leveller for Pau.

To finish off the month following the surprise win at home to Pau was another home game, this time at home to Dax who were another team where I did not know what to expect for this matchup, however it became pretty clear early on that I would be able to control how the game went and as a result I felt I had a good chance to beat them which is exactly what happened as my Massy side came out of it with a 21-12 win and a bonus point to boot.

After September I now find myself 5th after 5 of 30 games to play in the Pro D2 which I am very happy with considering the team I have, I am not sure how October is going to go with matches against Oyonnax, Colomiers and Béziers but I have confidence I can get something out of the month.

[tango602]

On to the third month of my first season with Massy in Pro D2, I was hopeful of getting something out of the three games in this month but was not sure what to expect from the matches with Oyonnax and Colomiers though I was expecting a win against Béziers after having beaten them in pre-season, this is how the month's fixtures played out.

October 2012 - Pro D2

Heading into the first game of October away to Oyonnax was another step into the unknown so to speak as I did not really know anything about my opposition for this match and so it was a case of hoping for the best, as it turned out this was a pretty even contest and one I nearly got a win from but Oyonnax scored a late try and were successful with the conversion kick to make the final score 7-7 which meant it was a first draw of the season for my Massy side.

Following this first draw of the season against Oyonnax was another away trip for my team, this time to play against Colomiers who once again were an unknown for me though looking at the team ratings prior to playing them, I felt that I would be able to get something from this game and that proved to be the case as my Massy side had just over 60% possession and just over 50% territory in this match though with a few high tackles, all in all this resulted in controlling the game and getting a 21-0 bonus point win away from home which was very pleasing.

Finishing up the three matches in October was a home game against Béziers who I had faced off with in a pre-season encounter which had resulted in a 31-10 win, because of how the game went in pre-season I felt confident of getting another win against Béziers though this time with league points at stake, this matchup was one that I swiftly got control of and dominated from start to finish while enjoying about 65% possession and 70% territory, Béziers did get a try but it was of no use for them as my Massy side came out with a 28-5 bonus point win which also gave me another confidence boost.

All in all after winning two out of three games played this month, my Massy side were still in the top 5 of the Pro D2 which if the season ended now would mean participation in the promotion playoffs, however there is still a long way to go and I do not want to get ahead of myself. Next month sees encounters with Tarbes, Lyon and Auch which could be tough but hopefully it will be another good month.

The top try scorers for me in October were Robert Johnston, Yacouba Camara and Mathias Atayi with two tries each.

[tango602]

Been a few days since the last update but following the success of October's games it was time to move into November and the fourth month of my first season with Massy in the Pro D2, there were three games to play this month and two of those were home encounters with Tarbes and Auch with a trip to face Lyon sandwiched between them, this is how it went.

November 2012 - Pro D2

First up in the month of November was home game against Tarbes who once again were an unknown quantity for me to come up against this season, this match however turned out to be like the last game of October against Béziers in that it was a fairly comfortable bonus point win by a score of 28-5, this was very pleasing and gave me a bit of a boost heading into what I expected to be a tough trip to Lyon.

The next game was the trip to face Lyon in what I expected would be a difficult matchup as Lyon have got some good players, the two standouts for me when seeing their lineup were Sébastien Chabal who has played for the French national team as well as Juan Manuel Leguizamon who has played for Argentina, as soon as I saw those two players were in the Lyon starting 15 I felt the game would be even tougher, this did not turn out to be the case though as thanks to tries from Juan Acosta, Mathias Atayi, Robert Johnston and Clement Medina as well as three successful conversions from Benoit Bonetti, my Massy side got an unexpected 26-13 win with the bonus point to propel them up to 3rd in Pro D2 though scrum half Elison Razafindrafahatra was injured in this game.

To finish off November I had a home encounter with Auch, a side that had defeated me in the pre-season games by 10 points though going into this match they were bottom of the league while my Massy side were 3rd so I had confidence of getting the win and extending the winning run I was on. Grégory Coudol returned to the side in this match as he is now back from injury and could take the place of the recently injured Elison Razafindrafahatra, he certainly played his part in what turned out to be a 14-5 win though I had hoped to come out of this match with another bonus point due to the difference in league placings.

All in all this was a very good month for my team and has really put them in contention for a potential promotion to the Top 14, however there is still a long way to go though December will see the half way point of league play after matches against Carcassonne, La Rochelle, Narbonne and Aurillac which I am sure will pose challenges.

[tango602]

If you are enjoying reading about my career mode with Massy then please let me know, there are a few updates to come but this is how December's matches played out.

December 2012 - Pro D2

Opening up December's Pro D2 fixtures for my Massy side was a home game against Carcassonne, the last time I had faced them was in a pre-season game where I lost 22-14 so I was hoping that things would turn out better this time around and that is exactly what happened after a much improved performance from the pre-season encounter resulting in a 28-19 win.

Following the victory over Carcassonne was a trip to face La Rochelle who I expected to be tough opposition and that had proved to be the case in pre-season so it was the expectation again for this matchup, they did pose a challenge but I came out with a much better result than I had anticipated, a 28-10 win away from home.

Next up in December was a first encounter with Narbonne, this was an away game and opposition who while lower in the league were a team I knew nothing about beforehand so it was very much a case of going in blind and hoping for the best, as it turned out Narbonne proved to be difficult opposition though thankfully my Massy side came out with a narrow 14-12 win thanks to tries from Robert Johnston and Jordi Rouge as well as two successful conversion kicks from Benoit Bonetti.

The penultimate matchup in December's Pro D2 fixtures for me was a home match against Aurillac, this marked the half way point of the league and another team that I had no prior knowledge about and as a result I was not sure what to expect from facing them, it turned out to be another difficult match but one that resulted in another narrow 14-12 win for my team.

Finishing up December's matches was the visit of Albi who I had beaten in the opening league game, as a result of this and the fact they are one of the other teams fighting for promotion I hoped to get another win against them, unfortunately however this was not to be as this turned out to be a 19-7 loss in a match that Albi controlled throughout and while a bit frustrating it was only my second defeat of the season so hopefully it will not affect things too much.

After December and having just passed the half way point of the league, my team are still in the promotion playoff places which is far beyond what I expected at the start and there is still a chance of winning the league for automatic promotion, unfortunately Robert Johnston was injured though and will be out for a few months which is not ideal. In January my team will only have two matches to play against Pays D'Aix and Brive.

[tango602]

Putting this on pause for now, need to get used to my new job and figure out exactly where I can fit this in time wise.