Clermont beat Lyon, La Rochelle edge Stade
Clermont Auvergne continued their fine Top 14 form with a comfortable victory over Lyon on Sunday, while La Rochelle stunned Stade Francais in Paris.
Results
Sunday
Stade Francais 12-14 La Rochelle
Clermont Auvergne 31-11 Lyon
Stade Francais 12-14 La Rochelle
Stade Jean-Bouin
Jono Gibbes’ first game in charge of La Rochelle ended in victory as they secured an impressive triumph over Stade Francais in the capital.
Morne Steyn’s accurate kicking kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Parisians in the first-half as they went into the interval 9-5 in front.
Jean-Charles Orioli’s try provided the visitors’ response in the first-half before Ihaia West reduced the arrears off the tee. Although Steyn added his fourth from the tee, West kicked two of his own in the final 20 minutes to snatch an excellent win for La Rochelle.
Both sides went into the game in a decent position in the Top 14 and it was unsurprisingly a tight encounter, with physicality the order of the day.
Stade opened the brighter and went ahead via Steyn before Gibbes’ charges earned a penalty and opted for a five-metre lineout. They set up the maul well and Orioli had the simple task of touching down after the good work of his team-mates.
La Rochelle struggled to build on that score, however, and it was the hosts that went into the break with a four-point buffer through a brace of three-pointers by their pivot.
That gap remained going into the final quarter after West and Steyn traded efforts off the tee before the former closed it to a single point with 18 minutes left.
The away side now had the momentum and once again Stade infringed when under pressure, allowing West to give them an outstanding victory in Paris.
The scorers:
For Stade Francais:
Pens: Steyn 4
For La Rochelle:
Try: Orioli
Pens: West 3
Stade Francais: 15 Kylan Hamdaoui, 14 Lester Etien, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Mali Hingano, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Ryan Chapuis, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Hanro Liebenberg, 3 Giorgi Melikidze, 2 Laurent Panis, 1 Heinke van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempere, 17 Stephane Clement, 18 Mathieu De Giovanni, 19 Talalelei Gray, 20 Clement Daguin, 21 Jules Plisson, 22 Tony Ensor, 23 Lucas Da Silva
La Rochelle: 15 Vincent Rattez, 14 Arthur Retiere, 13 Pierre Aguillon, 12 Jules Favre, 11 Elliot Roudil, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Gregory Alldritt, 6 Kevin Gourdon, 5 Thomas Jolmes, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Arthur Joly, 2 Jean-Charles Orioli, 1 Leo Aouf
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Vincent Pélo, 18 Mathieu Tanguy, 19 Zeno Kieft, 20 Jean-Victor Goillot, 21 Maxime Lafage, 22 Jeremy Sinzelle, 23 Uini Atonio
Referee: Vincent Blasco-Baque
Assistant referees: Flavien Hourquet, Sebastien Hebert
TMO: Akim Hadj-Bachir
Clermont Auvergne 31-11 Lyon
Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin
George Moala touched down twice as Clermont Auvergne moved back onto the summit of the Top 14 table following a victory over Lyon at the Marcel Michelin.
It was a tight first half-an-hour with the visitors taking a 6-3 lead through two Jean-Marc Doussain three-pointers, but Clermont were ahead by the interval via Moala’s first try.
They took that momentum into the second period and secured the win through the centre, backline compatriot Peter Betham and replacement Alexandre Fischer.
Auvergne have enjoyed a wonderful season so far but it took them a while to get going on Sunday. An inexperienced half-back partnership of Charlie Cassang and Tim Nanai-Williams did not help and Lyon benefited, going 3-0 in front through Doussain’s drop-goal.
Nanai-Williams levelled matters from the tee but Doussain regained the away side’s advantage with a penalty of his own.
Clermont then saw Benjamin Kayser controversially sin-binned for a high-tackle but that only served to motivate Les Jaunards and they crossed the whitewash when Moala finished well in the corner.
The league leaders were not quite at their best, however, and Morgan Parra’s introduction for the final 40 minutes made the difference. The scrum-half started to dictate play and two quick-fire penalties moved them eight points clear.
Moala and Jonathan Pelissie then traded scores, but Auvergne effectively sealed the win as Betham scampered over.
Franck Azema’s men could now relax and they secured their fourth try through Fischer after Hendrik Roodt had been sin-binned, which meant that the hosts also went away with a bonus-point.
The scorers:
For Clermont:
Tries: Moala 2, Betham, Fischer
Con: Parra
Pens: Nanai-Williams, Parra 2
Yellow Card: Kayser
For Lyon:
Try: Pelissie
Pen: Doussain
Drop-goal: Doussain
Yellow Cards: Ngatai, Roodt, Buckle
Clermont: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Peter Betham, 13 George Moala, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Tim Nanai-Williams, 9 Charlie Cassang, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Judicael Cancoriet, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Beqa Kakabadze
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Paul Jedrasiak, 19 Alexandre Fischer, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Damian Penaud, 22 Apisai Naqalevu, 23 Michael Simutoga
Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Xavier Mignot, 13 Thibault Regard, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Deon Fourie, 7 Dylan Cretin, 6 Julien Puricelli, 5 Hendrik Roodt, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Mickael Ivaldi, 1 Raphael Chaume
Replacements: 16 Jeremie Maurouard, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Loann Goujon, 19 Liam Gill, 20 Jonathan Pélissié, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Rudi Wulf, 23 Francisco Gomez Kodela
Referee: Tual Trainini
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon, Arnaud Blondel
TMO: Laurent Sclafer