Top 14: Week 19 Review
Clermont Auvergne slashed Toulouse's lead at the top of the Top 14 to four points with a confident victory over the champions at the Stade Marcel Michelin. On the south coast Toulon out-muscled Montpellier to end their five match unbeaten run, and defeats for Bayonne and Perpignan drags both sides deep into the relegation battle.
Friday
Toulon 19 “ 6 Montpellier
In a physical encounter at the Stade Mayol, Toulon came out on top with a strong second half performance.
The first half saw just a penalty apiece from the impressive Johnny Wilkinson and Montpellier scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue as both sides defences proved too stubborn to break down. Wilkinson added a trio of penalties before Toulon were denied a try when Alexis Palisson touched down Wilkinson's expertly weighted kick whilst in touch.
The hosts settled the game with eight minutes remaining after the referee awarded Toulon a penalty try as Montpellier illegally disrupted a powerful scrum on their own 5 metre line. There was enough time for Martin Bustos Moyano to add a late penalty but it wasn't enough to secure anything from the game for the visitors.
Clermont's victory means a top two finish is probably out of Toulon's grasp, but Friday's win strengthens their hold over third place. Montpellier's first defeat in six games sees them drop to fifth, but a home match against Bayonne next week will provide the opportunity to return to winning ways.
Saturday
Clermont Auvergne 35 “ 5 Toulouse
All the signs pointed towards a tight thriller at the Stade Marcel Michelin on Saturday, with Toulouse undefeated in eleven visiting the group where Clermont haven't suffered defeat since 2009. The end result, however, was a surprisingly one-sided affair.
In Morgan Parra's absence, it was up to David Skrela to take over the kicking duties, and the Clermont fly-half more than adequately filled in for his French teammate kicking 23 of his side's points, keeping the champions at arm's length throughout the game.
However it was the visitors that scored the opening five pointer “ a loose Clermont pass ended up in the hands of Yves Donguy, who ran half the length of the field only to be pulled short by the impressive Jean Marcellin Buttin. Toulouse got the ball wide and Aurelien Imperial got what would be the leader's only points of the game.
Skrela continued to punish Toulouse with a brace of penalties in the opening exchanges of the second half, before the hosts got themselves their first try through Italian centre Gonzalo Canale.
With the game over as a contest and time up on the clock, Toulouse opted to run with a penalty, only for Brent Russell to snaffle a loose pass and run in for the intercept try.
Clermont's home record remains intact, and Toulouse “ who have seemed so untouchable in the league lately “ will be looking nervously over their shoulder as Les Jaunards move within a victory of the leaders.
Agen 22 “ 17 Perpignan
Perpignan sink back into the relegation dogfight as they again fail to string together two undefeated matches with defeat to Agen on Saturday.
The sides were separated by just a point at the break “ a converted Junior Pelesasa try gave Agen the narrowest of leads, with James Hook replying with a penalty and drop-goal as the first half ended 7-6.
Conrad Barnard put the hosts in control with five second half penalties. A late flourish from Perpignan gave the visitors a glimmer of an opportunity with a David Mélé drop-goal and a try from Number 8 Damien Chouly, and a last minute penalty from Hook secured at least a losing bonus point for Perpignan.
Victory for Agen removes any lingering relegation fears, while Perpignan sit precariously on the edge of the drop, two points ahead the Basque pair of Biarritz and Bayonne.
Biarritz 38 “ 13 Bordeaux-Bègles
The return of Dimitri Yachvili again heralded the return to winning ways for Biarritz as the Basque side ran in four tries to secure a vital bonus-point victory, and condemn Bordeaux to a third defeat in a row.
Two tries, one from Arnaud Heguy and one from Yachvili himself helped the hosts to a comfortable 17-3 lead at the break. The France scrum-half then added two more penalties, before Takudzwa Ngwenya added a third try and Yachvili grabbed a fourth with 15 minutes remaining.
Bordeaux flanker Louis-Benoit Madaule ran in for his side's only try of the game, but Biarritz's defence held for the final 10 minutes to ensure a vital five-pointer to move them out of the relegation places, level on points with local rivals Bayonne. Bordeaux are now just seven points ahead of the relegation places, and with the tough task of visiting Racing Metro next weekend, are in real danger of falling into the relegation battle.
Brive 25 “ 9 Stade Français
Stade's poor form away from home continued at the Stade Amédée-Domenech as Brive secured back-to-back wins for the second time this season. In the battle of the strongest defence and second strongest attack, it was Brive's impenetrable line that won out, the hosts outscoring the Parisians two tries to nil.
The visitors were narrowly behind at half-time, thanks to three Felipe Contepomi penalties, with Thibault Dubarry scoring the only try of the half for Brive and a penalty apiece for Brive's Julien Caminati and Mathieu Bélie.
The second half saw Brive stretch their legs with Brive's two kickers adding three penalties between them before Georgian hooker Irakli Natriashvili put the game beyond doubt in the final minutes with Brive's second try.
Brive put some breathing space between themselves and the bottom two sides, while Stade are in danger of falling out of touch with the top six as they slip to eighth.
Racing Metro 22 “ 21 Bayonne
Racing made hard work of overhauling strugglers Bayonne as they just edged a tight game with a late Sireli Bobo try.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter kicked four penalties to Gaeten Germain's two and a Juan Martin Hernandez drop-goal to give the visitors a 12-9 lead at half time. Potgieter extended Bayonne's lead as the visitors looked set for a highly unlikely victory.
But a Mirco Bergamasco penalty closed the gap to three points and with ten minutes remaining Bob scored the winning try. Bayonne's replacement scrum-half Cedric Garcia put his side within a point with a 75th minute penalty, but Racing held on to record back-to-back victories and move back into the play-off places.
Bayonne slip back into the relegation zone, and face another difficult away trip next weekend, as they visit Montpellier.
Castres 6 “ 6 Lyon
In the lowest scoring game of the weekend, Lyon valiantly held on against play-off chasing Castres to earn a valuable two points, but with Biarritz's victory over Bordeaux, last season's D2 champions still drop to the bottom of the table.
All the points came in the opening 22 minutes, the boot of Romain Teulet twice putting Castres ahead, only for Regis Lespinas to cancel out his scores on both occasions.
Despite being held, Castres move ahead of Montpellier into fourth place, while Lyon again prop up the table, four points adrift of Biarritz and Bayonne at the bottom of the table.
