Top 14 Wrap: Grenoble win at Castres

Editor

Grenoble picked up a vital win away at Castres to get their play-off challenge back on track.

Elsewhere Toulon crushed Oyonnax at Mayol while Brive kicked their way to victory at Pau.

Finally Bordeaux edged past Toulouse to make it two wins on the spin for Raphaël Ibanez's team.

On Friday Racing 92 beat Stade Français in the Paris derby to continue their strong start to the year.

Results
Friday
Racing 92 27-18 Stade Français
Saturday
Castres 23-31 Grenoble
Pau 13-18 Brive
Toulon 61-3 Oyonnax
Bordeaux-Bègles 12-10 Toulouse
Still to follow
Montpellier v Clermont
Sunday
La Rochelle v Agen


Castres 23-31 Grenoble
Stade Pierre Antoine, Castres

Grenoble got their season back on track with a vital win at Castres as they took advantage of a first-half red card for Alexandre Bias.

The Castres flanker was sent off for a punch just before the half-hour, and Grenoble ran in three tries, with 13 points from Jonathan Wisniewski guiding them to victory.

Grenoble took just two minutes to take the lead with a try from Peter Kimlin. As is often the case with Grenoble, it began with a break from Rory Grice and with Grenoble on the front foot, the ball was recycled for the Australian to cross. 

Rory Kockott responded with three points but after a break from Gio Aplon, Chris Farrell went over for Grenoble's second to make it 12-3 with the conversion from Wisniewski.

Rémy Grosso pulled one back from Castres as he cut inside to beat three men but Kockott's conversion was off-target.

A penalty from Wisniewski pushed the lead to 15-8 for Grenoble but on 26 minutes the game was transformed when Bias was sent off. The Castres back rower was held back by Kimlin, who picked up a yellow card, but Bias was given his marching orders for a punch to the face.

Two minutes later Xavier Mignot was over for Grenoble's third, crossing in the corner before going under the posts, but David Smith responded for Castres to make it 22-15.

Wisniewski added another penalty before half-time to make it a ten-point lead to the visitors, before slotting another early in the second period.

Castres did their best to stay in touch, with a second Kockott penalty followed a try by Geoffrey Palis to get back within five points.

However a late penalty from James Hart sealed the win and denied Castres a losing bonus point.

The scorers:

For Castres:
Tries:
Grosso, Smith, Palis
Con: Kockott
Pens: Kockott 2
Red Card: Bias

For Grenoble
Tries:
Kimlin, Farrell, Mignot
Cons: Wisniewski 2
Pens: Wisniewski 3, Hart
Yellow Cards: Kimlin

Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 David Smith, 13 Romain Cabannes, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Alexandre Bias, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Yohan Montès, 2 Brice Mach, 1 Mihaita Lazar
Replacements: 16 Marc Antoine Rallier, 17 Lucas Martinez, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Yannick Caballero, 20 Antoine Dupont, 21 Julien Dumora, 22 Rudi Wulf, 23 Florian Houerie

Grenoble: 15 Fabien Gengenbacher, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Xavier Mignot, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Rory Grice, 7 Mahamadou Diaby, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Hendrik Roodt, 4 James Percival, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Arnaud Héguy, 1 Alexandre Dardet
Replacements: 16 Kevin Goze, 17 Laurent Bouchet, 18 Sona Taumalolo, 19 Jonathan Best, 20 Dylan Hayes, 21 Stephen Setephano, 22 James Hart, 23 Daniel Kilioni

Referee: Laurent Cardona


Pau 13-18 Brive
Stade du Hameau, Pau

Brive came from behind to pick up an impressive win at Pau as they cemented their place in the play-off places thanks to the kicking off Gaëtan Germain.

The Brive full-back kicked six penalties for the visitors, who won their first game on the road this season.

After two missed early penalties from Samuel Marques, Brive took the lead with a penalty from Gaëtan Germain.

The Pau pack was then penalised with Euan Murray sin-binned, but Germain missed the chance to double the lead.

Just after the half-hour Marques levelled matters, and it got worse for Brive when Johan Snyman was sin-binned for offside after a break by Marques.

They lost a second player to a sin-bin when Chris Tuatara-Morrison tackled Damien Traille without using his arms.

Down to 13, Brive finally conceded after a string of scrum penalties. Marques converted to make it 10-3 to the hosts at the break.

Just before the hour, Germain knocked over two penalties in quick succession to make it 10-9.

And it carried on in the final 20 minutes with three more penalties from Germain to take Brive eight points clear.

However Pau managed a late penalty from Brandon Fajardo to at least escape with a bonus point.

The scorers:

For Pau:
Try:
Penalty try
Con: Marques
Pens: Marques, Fajardo
Yellow Card: Murray

For Brive:
Pens:
Germain 6
Yellow Cards: Snyman, Tuatara-Morrison

Pau: 15 Damien Traille, 14 Marika Vunibaka, 13 Julien Fumat, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Mosese Ratuvou, 10 Santiago Fernández, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Paddy Butler, 6 Sean Dougall, 5 Daniel Ramsay, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Euan Murray, 2 VIncent Campo, 1 Julien Jacquot
Replacements: 16 Mehdi Boundjema, 17 Jeremy Hurou, 18 Josefa Domolailai, 19 Brice Monzeglio, 20 Thierry Lacrampe, 21 Brandon Fajardo, 22 Charly Malié, 23 Sylvain Charlet.

Brive: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Alfie Mafi, 13 Benjamin Petre, 12 Chris Tuatara, 11 Guillaume Namy, 10 Mathieu Ugalde, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Sisi Koyamaibole, 7 Poutasi Luafutu, 6 Petrus Hauman, 5 Peet Marais, 4 Johan Snyman, 3 Damien Jourdain, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Lucas Pointud
Replacements: 16 Francois Da Ros, 17 Karlen Asieshvili, 18 Arnaud Mela, 19 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 20 Fabien Sanconnie, 21 Nicolas Bézy, 22 Thomas Laranjeira, 23 Kevin Buys

Referee: Tual Trainini


Toulon 61-3 Oyonnax
Stade Félix Mayol, Toulon

Toulon laid down a marker with a crushing win over Oyonnax, running in eight tries in total.

It was actually Oyonnax who dominated early taking a 3-0 lead through Nicky Robinson having had a try disallowed.

But from then on, Toulon were in complete control, with Mathieu Bastareaud, straight back in the team and powering over for the first try.

Jonathan Pélissié converted and added three penalties to stretch the lead to 16-3 to the European champions.

The next score was a stunner from Toulon, with Josua Tuisova starting it with a searing break and as it came back across Juan Smith showed his pace and strength to race over.

Tuisova finished off the next, powering through former Toulon man Pierrick Gunther, with Pélissié converting both to make it 30-3.

That was it for the first half, but early in the second Tuisova was at it again, powering through before sending Romain Taofifenua over, and when Delon Armitage crossed, Pélissié's conversion made it 42-3.

On the hour Maurie Fa'asavalu was sin-binned for Oyonnax, and straight after Maxime Mermoz crossed for Toulon's sixth.

Sireli Bobo then went over for two late tries as Toulon ran away with it.

The scorers:

For Toulon:
Tries:
Bastareaud, Smith, Tuisova, Taofifenua, Armitage, Mermoz, Bobo 2
Cons: Pélissié 4
Pens: Pélissié 3
Yellow Card: Fresia

For Oyonnax:
Pens:
Robinson
Yellow Cards: Fa'asavalu, Gunther

Toulon: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Jonathan Pélissié, 8 Steffon Armitage, 7 Virgile Bruni,  6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements: 16 Guihelm Guirado, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Thibault Lassalle, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Sireli Bobo, 21 UJ Seuteni, 22 Sébastian Tillous-Borde, 23 Mohamed Boughanmi

Oyonnax: 15 Quentin Etienne, 14 Silvere Tian, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Kane Hansell-Pune, 11 Uwa Tawalo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Viliame Ma'afu, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu,  6 Pierrick Gunther, 5 Valentin Ursache, 4 LeonPower, 3 Horatiu Pungea, 2 Jérémie Mourouard, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha. 
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bordes, 17 Stan Wright, 18 George Robson, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Fabien Cibray, 21 Regis Lespinas, 22 Emaonn Sheridan, 23 Marc Clerc

Referee: Thomas Charabas


Bordeaux-Bègles 12-10 Toulouse
Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux

Bordeaux-Bègles laid to rest last season's two losses by a single point to Toulouse with a narrow win over Ugo Mola's team.

In a very tight game, four penalties from Baptiste Serin proved the difference for Bordeaux.

Serin opened the scoring with a penalty for Bordeaux, but Toulouse had the first try midway through the half when Vincent Clerc crossed after a switch with Jean-Marc Doussain.

Two more penalties from Serin before half-time made it 9-7 to Bordeaux at the break and they added another early in the second half to push the lead to five.

Bordeaux almost had their first try in the second half, when Sébastien Taofifenua thought he'd crossed after a powerful rumble, but he was deemed to have lost control of the ball as he dotted down.

Toulouse, for whom Clerc was outstanding, then had a try of their own disallowed, Timoci Matanavou putting a foot in touch before going over on the left.

Soon after Loann Goujon was penalised for going off his feet at the breakdown, allowing Doussain to cut the deficit to two points heading into the last ten minutes.

Toulouse finished strongly, and could have won it when Yacouba Camara went clean through in the final minutes, but Clément Poitrenaud was penalised for holding on after collecting the final pass.

The scorers:

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Pens:
Serin 4

For Toulouse: 
Try:
Clerc
Con: Doussain
Pen: Doussain

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Sofiane Guitoune, 13 Félix le Bourhis, 12 Julien Rey, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Romain Lonca, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Peter Saili, 5 Berend Botha, 4 Jandre Marais, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Beñat Auzqui, 1 Sébastien Taofifenua
Replacements: 16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Julien Ledevedec, 19 Marco Tauleigne, 20 Luke Braid, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 23 Albert Toetu

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Gillian Galan, 7 Tala Gray, 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Edwin Maka, 4 Romain Millo-Chluski, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Imanol Harinordoquy, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Clément Poitrenaud, 23 Paul Perez

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz