Matadigo comes back to haunt Montpol

Scored a try against his former club: Masinivanua Matadigo

Racing-Métro picked up a priceless win on the road in the Top 14 as they edged past play-off rivals Montpellier 17-15 at the Stade Yves du Manoir.

In what was their eighth straight league win - their last loss coming three days before Christmas - Racing won despite not scoring after the break.

They will not care about that though as scenes of jubilation at the final whistle proved just how key this victory was to the team's play-off aspirations.

First-half scores from former Montpellier number eight Masinivanua Matadigo and the impressive centre Henry Chavancy set the Parisians on their way as they went into the break 17-3 to the good.

Montpellier were clearly given a stern talking to by head coach Fabien Galthié and subsequently returned for the second-half in much better shape, chipping away at the Racing lead via Benoit Paillaugue's boot.

The reliable number nine filling in at fly-half for François Trinh-Duc kicked three more penalties to add to his one on the half-hour but the hosts ultimately fell short of victory.

The match was marred however by a serious looking injury to referee Mathieu Raynal, who was stretchered off at Stade Yves du Manoir after a player clattered into his ankle at force.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Pen: Paillaugue 4

For Racing-Métro:
Tries: Matadigo, Chavancy
Con: Barkley, Descons
Pen: Descons

Montpellier: 15 Lucas Gonzales Amorosino, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Yohann Artru, 10 Benoit Paillaugue, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Alexandre Bias, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Alikisio Fakate, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Yvan Watremez.
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Hendrikus Hancke, 19 Kelian Galletier, 20 Hamish Gard, 21 Matthew Carraro, 22 Martin Bustos Moyano, 23 Barry Faamausili.

Racing Métro: 15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Sebastien Descons, 8 Masinivanua Matadigo, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Alvaro Galindo, 5 Francois Van der Merwe, 4 Karim Ghezal, 3 Its Salemane, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Fabrice Metz, 19 Jacques Cronje, 20 Virimi Vakatawa, 21 Jonathan Wisniewski, 22 Camille Gerondeau, 23 Juan Pablo Orlandi.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal