James Hook: Kicked 20 points for Perpignan
Perpignan eased their relegation worries when they claimed a surprise 25-10 win over Toulouse in a Top 14 clash on Friday night.
Defending champions Toulouse had been 7-6 ahead at the break at the Aime-Giral stadium after Argentine lock Patricio Albacete had crossed for a 35th-minute try.
But Welsh star James Hook then kicked four successive penalties to add to the two he had booted in the first period as Perpignan took control.
A last-minute try from full-back Joffrey Michel was the icing on the cake for the home side while Hook finished with 20 points thanks to his successful conversion.
Toulouse had been knocked out of the European Cup quarter-finals last week losing 19-14 to Edinburgh.
They were also hamstrung by a lengthy injury list which includes Maxime Medard, Gary Botha, Gurthro Steenkamp, Rupeni Caucaunibuca, Romain Millo-Chluski, Akvsenti Giorgadze, Louis Picamoles, Vincent Clerc and Luke McAlister.
Friday's loss marked the first time that Toulouse had lost consecutive European Cup and Top 14 matches since December 2009 although they still stayed top of the table.
The scorers:
For Perpignan:
Try: Michel
Con: Hook
Pens: Hook 6
For Toulouse:
Try: Albacete
Con:Doussain
Pen: Beauxis
The teams:
Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Farid Sid, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Adrien Plante, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Bertrand Guiry, 6 Gregory Le Corvec, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Olivier Olibeau, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Charles Geli, 1 Perry Freshwater
Replacements: 16 Guirado, 17 Schuster, 18 Gerrie Britz, 19 Robins Tachale Watchou, 20 David Mele, 21 Jerome Porical, 22 Gavin Hume, 23 Benoit Bourrust.
Toulouse: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Aurelein Impérial, 13 Yann David, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Gillian Galan, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Gregory Lamboley, 3 Yohan Montès, 2 Christopher Tolofua, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Daan Human, 18 Yohann Maestri, 19 Shaun Sowerby, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Lionel Beauxis,22 Thierry Dusautoir, 23 Cencus Johnston.
Comments
melkdave says...
As always its hard to get away wins in the Top 14 ,and ST do have a lengthy injury list so no REAL shock as @Rosbif says ..
Posted 14:10 14th April 2012
Rosbif says...
No shock here. Just look at ST's record at Perpignan over the last 20 years. It's their bogey ground. This is the result everyone expected. Except maybe the PR journalist!!
Posted 12:33 14th April 2012