Chris Ashton breaks record in Toulon win

Chris Ashton broke the record for tries scored in a Top 14 season as Toulon defeated Montpellier 32-17 at the Orange Velodrome to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Fabien Galthie’s men dominated the opening 20 minutes and Ashton crossed the whitewash for his 22nd try of the domestic campaign, overtaking Napolioni Nalaga’s 2008/09 haul for Clermont Auvergne.

Although Toulon were not playing at their usual home, with the 2014 champions moving it to Marseille, it did not affect the play-off contenders.

They scored twice more through Semi Radradra and Mathieu Bastareaud before Anthony Belleau extended their buffer to 22-0 with a penalty.

Vincent Martin provided a response for the visitors but Facundo Isa barged over to give Galthie’s charges a comfortable buffer going into the interval.

Montpellier battled in the second period and put pressure on the opposition rearguard, but they initially struggled to get their reward.

Vern Cotter’s men did finally cross the whitewash via Gabriel Ngandebe, but it was Ashton’s – and Toulon’s – day as Belleau effectively completed the win from the tee, despite Kelian Galletier’s consolation score.

The scorers:

For Toulon:
Tries: Ashton, Radradra, Bastareaud, Isa
Cons: Trinh-Duc, Belleau 2
Pens: Belleau 2

For Montpellier:
Tries: Martin, Ngandebe, Galletier
Con: Cruden
Yellow Card: Kubriashvili

Toulon: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Semi Radradra, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Eric Escande, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Facundo Isa, 6 Raphael Lakafia, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Marcel Van der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Florian Fresia
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Romain Taofifenua, 19 Mamuka Gorgodze, 20 Anthony Belleau, 21 Josua Tuisova, 22 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 23 Levan Chilachava

Montpellier: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Vincent Martin, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Gabriel Ngandebe, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Enzo Sanga, 8 Kelian Galletier, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Martin Devergie, 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Davit Kubriashvili, 2 Romain Ruffenach, 1 Gregory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Paul Willemse, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Thomas Darmon, 22 Yvan Reilhac, 23 Mohammed Haouas

Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon, Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Mourad Zitouni