We think we might have cursed Federale 1 outfit Le Bugue by following them around France this season. Six games in and with no wins, our boys in blue are already fearing relegation

Oloron 16 Le Bugue 6: It's six defeats from six for Le Bugue now after defeat at lowly Pool 6 rivals Oloron. Once again, the boys from Stade Renaud-Cruveiller were not outclassed, and despite the hosts' undoubted dominance up front, yielded only one try all afternoon.

And that's the positives out of the way. By failing to pick up so much as a bonus point, Le Bugue are now six points adrift at the foot of the table, and as the halfway point in this first part of the season approaches, are already resigned to the fight-for-survival that is the Federale 1 Play-Downs. That fight will be made more difficult by the fact that the bottom four in their pool carry their first-round points (or the lack of them) into the six-match second round.

But back to Sunday, and the Pyrenean hosts wasted no time in stating their aims, setting up camp in Le Bugue's half and edging, little-by-little, towards the visitors' try line. Rather than take an early three points from a penalty, Oloron opted for a series of penaltouches (the line-out taken after a penalty kick goes into touch - is there no wonder there's no word for portmanteau in English?) and finally gained the seven points when winger Nicolas Fourtine drove over from two metres out.

Nicolas Picabea converted., and the outside half added two penalties to give Oloron a 13-0 lead after 26 minutes. Although Le Bugue didn't concede further points before the break, they only made one decent attack into the hosts' danger zone all half.

The second half began more positively, and scrum-half Francois Bourgeois - handed kicking duties after player/coach/captain Terry Fanolua had bumped welshman Tomos Marks from fly-half to bench - got Le Bugue off the mark with a 44th minute penalty. But normal service was resumed within 10 minutes as Picabea took advantage of Oloron's dominance to add a drop goal.

Fanolua was shown a yellow card eight minutes from time, and although Marks - by now on at centre - added three points to his season's tally, three more was beyond Le Bugue's reach and they left Stade St-Pée with no points and - as Le Midol put it - little to show other than their bravery.

President's address
Co-president Thierry Thebault told local newspaper Sud-Ouest that officials and players were already planning for the play-downs and considering the drop to Federale 2.

"We have to continue to put our faith in the boys, we can't do anything else," said Thebault. "But I don't know what we're lacking at the moment. Obviously there's a lack of enthusiasm, which is logical as we're in a downward spiral of defeat. We're not going to stop talking about it, but the talking must lead to something."

The departure of forwards coach Didier Casadei to Brive has clearly shaken a side which has lacked any kind of forward power for the last two weeks. Thebault said that he and co-president Louis 'Néné' Neisen were actively searching for a replacement, but that recent interviews had come to nothing.

As for the prospect of a place in the play-offs, Thebault admitted that it was now out of the question.

"We're not even in a position to dream about that. That was the club's aim but mathematical logic has put paid to our aspirations. Néné and I have to hang in there to ensure that the club continues to exist. Néné is fighting like a lion to find solutions - he is without doubt the most affected person of all, he's suffering terribly.

"We are expecting to be relegated. If we are to drop to Federale 1, we have to do everything to ensure that the club is ready for it."

For the moment, he says, the players are getting on well, but on the pitch, they haven't yet bonded. "We play well at times, but then we can't move up another gear."

Second string: The match between Oloron B and Le Bugue B was forfeited by Le Bugue. We don't know why but it was probably for the best.

Also in Pool 6: Langon 25 Tyrosse 30; Lourdes 3 Perigueux 16; Vallée du Girou 9 Graulhet 21

Next up: Le Bugue vs Lourdes, Stade Renaud-Cruveiller, Sunday, November 15. The first half of the regular Federale 1 season comes to a close with the visit of the pool's most decorated team, FC Lourdes. The 'Second Miracle of Lourdes' saw the boys from Stade Antoine-Beguere win eight French championships between 1948 and 1968, and their greatest player, Jean Prat, was capped 51 times for France and gave his name to the Federale 1 championship trophy.

It's been three years since Lourdes played for that particular trophy, but their regular season performances are so perfectly average that they're never in danger of dropping to Fed2 either. In 2008 they even managed to win the Play-down play-offs, officially becoming the 55th best team in France with a 5-3 final win over La Seyne. This season is no exception, and after six matches, Lourdes sit in fifth place with a 3:3 record. They're averaging less than a try a game and have yet to win on their travels this season - surely the perfect time for Le Bugue to break that damn canard!

Lourdes' summer signings included four of the five foreigners in the squad, including veteran flanker Harold Karele. The South African has experience of the Top 14 (in Toulon's disastrous 2005/6 season) and of Pro D2 with Aurillac and Tarbes, but at 38, his tour of France could be coming to an end. Our favourites, though, are rival fly-halves Aurelien Laloo and (the injured) Mathieu Pouey, for no other reason than we have the minds of 10 year olds.

The news Fed-lines: Beziers' march back to Pro D2 faltered as they lost 9-15 at Saint-Etienne. Outside-half Alexandre Peclier sealed the former French champions' first defeat of the season with a 78th minute, 50-metre penalty to add to the four he kicked in the first half. His opposite number, the georgian Lasha Malaguradze, kicked three penalties in wet conditions, but Beziers' 100% record couldn't be rescued and Saint-Etienne join them at the top of Pool 3 with a 5:1 record.

Carcassonne, Valence d'Agen and Tyrosse kept their unbeaten records. Valence staying on top of Pool 5 with a 17-6 win over Marmande-Casteljaloux, and Carcassonne picking up a bonus point in their 41-23 win over Pool 4 bottom club Montmelian.

In Le Bugue's Pool 6, Tyrosse outside-half Thierry Dupré leapt straight to the top of the points-scoring charts by kicking all his club's points in their 30-25 top-of-the-table win at Langon. Dupré's 10 penalties kept Tyrosse in front in the face of Morgan Sourillan's six penalties and a 68th minute penalty try.

Also in Pool 4, La Seyne and Marseille-Vitrolles played out a tight Vars derby at Toulon's Stade Mayol, 'home' team La Seyne racing into an 11-point lead in as many minutes before Guillaume Marque closed the gap with three penalties. A fiery second half saw prop Julien Veniat sent off on the hour, and La Seyne held on to win 14-12. January's return could still be played at Marseille's Stade Velodrome.

At the other end of the tables, Morlaas's 6-0 maiden win over Mauleon saw them leave Epernay and our own Le Bugue as the only teams without a win. Epernay themselves went close to breaking their duck, pushing Massy all the way until the Parisians' South African outside-half Daniel Clarke kicked two penalties in the last 10 minutes to lift them to second in Pool 2.

Finally, congratulations to Poitiers and Orleans for racing into the lead in our worst game of the season contest. The Pool 1 pair were tied at nil-nil after 69 minutes of dropped passes and indiscipline, when Orleans' German full-back Guillaume Franke broke the deadlock with a penalty. But it wasn't to be for the visitors, and six minutes from time, Poitiers new boy Hugo Paquet kicked the first penalty of his Fed1 career from 50 metres to ensure a share of the points. Actually, it sounds quite interesting now...

You can find all the latest Federale 1 results at ItsRugby.fr

Fédérale 1 Pool 6 table: