Late Carter try sees Racing 92 into play-offs

A late try from Dan Carter proved vital to Racing 92 as they claimed the remaining Top 14 play-off spot with a win over Bordeaux-Bègles.

Results

Brive 33-27 Castres
Clermont 30-26 La Rochelle
Grenoble 53-21 Lyon
Montpellier 27-26 Stade Français
Racing 92 22-20 Bordeaux-Bègles
Toulon 32-12 Pau
Toulouse 40-12 Bayonne

Qualified for semi-finals: La Rochelle, Clermont

Play-offs: Montpellier v Racing 92, Toulon v Castres

Qualified for Champions Cup: La Rochelle, Clermont, Montpellier, Toulon, Castres, Racing 92

Qualified for Champions Cup 20th place play-offs: Stade Français

Brive 33-27 Castres

Guillaume Ribes was the star as Brive ended the season in fine style by defeating title contenders Castres 33-27.

The visitors were already assured of their place in the play-offs and they started the game impressively, going 6-0 ahead through the boot of Benjamin Urdapilleta.

However, the hosts soon began to dominate with Ribes touching down twice as they moved into a 20-6 lead after half-an-hour.

It was proving to be a topsy-turvy match, though, and two Antoine Dupont tries levelled matters before Gaetan Germain regained Brive’s advantage.

Although Horacio Agulla crossed the whitewash for Castres in the second period, a penalty try and another Germain three-pointer gave the home side a final day win.

The scorers:

For Brive:
Tries: Ribes 2, Penalty try
Cons: Germain 3
Pens: Germain 4

For Castres:
Tries: Dupont 2, Agulla
Cons: Urdapilleta 2, Dumora
Pens: Urdapilleta 2
Yellow Cards: Combezou, Stroe

Brive: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Thomas Laranjeira, 11 Benjamin Lapeyre, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Jean-Baptiste Péjoine, 8 Petrus Hauman, 7 Poutasi Luafutu, 6 Saïd Hireche, 5 Arnaud Mela, 4 Julien Ledevedec, 3 Damien Jourdain, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Karlen Asieshvili
Replacements: 16 Francois Da Ros, 17 Vivien Devisme, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Sisa Koyamaibole, 20 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 21 Nicolas Bezy, 22 Benito Masilevu, 23 Soso Bekoshvili

Castres: 15 Pierre Berard, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Steve Mafi, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Damien Tussac, 2 Brice Mach, 1 Mihaita Lazãr
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Victor Moreaux, 19 Maama Vaipulu, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 22 Julien Dumora, 23 Yohann Montes

Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Cayre, Thomas Déjean-
TMO: Denis Grenouillet

Clermont 30-26 La Rochelle

Clermont Auvergne secured automatic qualification for the semi-finals after overcoming league leaders La Rochelle 30-26.

The visitors had already secured top spot and that showed in their first half performance as Auvergne took a 24-6 advantage into the interval.

Although Arthur Retiere was on target twice from the tee for the away side, Clermont managed to touch down three times in the opening period through Damian Penaud (twice) and Sebastien Vahaamahina.

La Rochelle hit back via two more Retiere three-pointers and Jeremie Maurouard’s try, but Patricio Fernandez sealed the victory with the boot, despite Ricky Januarie’s late score.

These teams will now wait on the outcome of the quarter-finals to see who they face in the last four.

The scorers:

For Clermont:
Tries: Penaud 2, Vahaamahina
Cons: Fernandez 3
Pens: Fernandez 3

For La Rochelle:
Tries: Maurouard, Januarie
Cons: Retiere 2
Pens: Retiere 4

Clermont: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 David Strettle, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Patricio Fernandez, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Peceli Yato, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Sebastién Vahaamahina, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Raphaël Chaume, 18 Arthur Iturria, 19 Fritz Lee, 20 Charlie Cassang, 21 Camille Lopez, 22 Aurelien Rougerie, 23 Clement Ric

La Rochelle: 15 Charles Bouldoire, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Pierre Aguillon, 12 Kini Murimurivalu, 11 Savenaca Rawaca, 10 Benjamin Noble, 9 Arthur Retiere, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Levani Botia, 6 Romain Sazy, 5 Damien Lagrange, 4 Mathieu Tanguy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Hikairo Forbes, 1 Mike Corbel
Replacements: 16 Jérémie Maurouard, 17 Vincent Pelo, 18 Leandro Cedaro, 19 Kevin Gourdon, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Brock James, 22 Steeve Barry, 23 Mohamed Boughanmi

Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Gasnier, Laurent Breil
TMO: Laurent Sclafer

Grenoble 53-21 Lyon

ProD2-bound Grenoble finished an otherwise terrible season in superb fashion thanks to a 53-21 dismantling of Lyon.

The visitors still had an outside chance of claiming the final play-off place but the home defeat to Clermont Auvergne last weekend evidently had an adverse affect on Saturday night’s performance.

Despite Cameron Mapusua touching down early on, the hosts consistently opened up their opponents and scored three tries in the first half through Edward Sawailau, Dylan Jacquot and Lilian Saseras. 

Lyon were demoralised and Grenoble completed the victory by crossing the whitewash four more times with Arnaud Heguy, Sawailau, Alexandre Dardet and Nigel Hunt all going over.

Stephane Clement’s score was sandwiched in between that second half burst and Lyon also had the final word when Hamza Kaabeche touched down, but it was a disappointing evening for the away team.

The scorers:

For Grenoble:
Tries: Sawailau 2, Jacquot, Saseras, Heguy, Dardet, Nemani
Cons: Wisniewski 5, Bosch
Pens: Wisniewski 2

For Lyon:
Tries: Mapusua, Kaabeche
Cons: Porical 3
Yellow Card: Paulino

Grenoble: 15 Clement Gelin, 14 Lucas Dupont, 13 Maritino Nemani, 12 Nigel Hunt, 11 Edward Sawailau, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Lilian Saseras, 8 Fabien Alexandre, 7 Loic Baradel, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Dylan Jacquot
Replacements: 16 Alexandre Dardet, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Mickael Capelli, 19 Thomas Jolmes, 20 David Mele, 21 Gilles Bosch, 22 Armand Batlle, 23 Ali Oz

Lyon: 15 Jerome Porical, 14 Henry Clunies-Ross, 13 Paul Bonnefond, 12 Thibault Regard, 11 Franck Romanet, 10 Jacques- Louis Potgieter, 9 Agustin Figuerola, 8 Curtis Browning, 7 Didier Tison, 6 Dylan Cretin, 5 Maselino Paulino, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 David Attoub, 2 Cameron Mapusua, 1 Stéphane Clément
Replacements: 16 Enzo Pakihivatau, 17 Tornike Mataradze, 18 Andres Zafra Tarazona, 19 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 20 Nicolas Durand, 21 Leo Berdeu, 22 Hosea Gear, 23 Hamza Kaabeche

Referee: Cédric Marchat
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Carrillo, Jean-Luc Rebollal
TMO: Eric Briquet Campin

Montpellier 27-26 Stade Français

Montpellier will face Racing 92 in the play-offs after they came from behind to defeat another Parisian side Stade Francais 27-26.

Stade were also looking for a place in the top-six and they were excellent in the first half, taking a 13-6 advantage through Djibril Camara’s try and two Morne Steyn penalties.

The accurate kicking of Willie du Plessis kept the hosts in contention before Nemani Nadolo’s touchdown on the stroke of half-time altered the momentum of the contest.

That levelled the match and, although Steyn regained the visitors’ lead, Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Spies appeared to have secured the victory.

However, Stade did not give up and almost snatched the win through Craig Burden and Waisea Vuidravuwalu tries, but Steyn’s last minute conversion drifted wide.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Tries: Nadolo, Van der Merwe, Spies
Cons: Du Plessis 3
Pens: Du Plessis 2
Yellow Card: Du Plessis

For Stade Français:
Tries: Camara, Burden, Nayacalevu
Con: Steyn
Pens: Steyn 3
Yellow Cards: Boutaty

Montpellier: 15 Timoci Nagusa, 14 Duhan van der Merwe, 13 Henry Immelman, 12 Joseph Tomane, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Benôit Paillaugue, 8 Kelian Galletier, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Konstantin Mikautadze, 4 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck Du Plessis, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Gregory Fichten, 18 Pierre Spies, 19 Charles Géli, 20 Nic White, 21 Demetri Catrakilis, 22 Cameron Wright, 23 Antoine Guillamon

Stade Français: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Theo Millet, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jeremy Sinzelle, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Clement Daguin, 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Abdellatif Boutaty, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Rémy Bonfils, 1 Zurabi Zhvania
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Hugh Pyle, 19 Sergio Parisse, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 22 Waisea Nayacalevu, 23 Giorgi Melikidze

Referee: Pascal Gauzère
Assistant Referees: Flavien Hourquet, Akim Hadj Bachir
TMO: Jean-Marie Piraveau

Racing 92 22-20 Bordeaux-Bègles

Racing 92 secured the final play-off place at the expense of arch-rivals Stade Francais after coming from 17 points down to record a dramatic 22-20 triumph over Bordeaux-Bègles.

Dan Carter gave the Parisians the lead from the tee early on but Bordeaux went onto control the next 50 minutes.

They touched down twice via Adam Ashley-Cooper and Blair Connor, while Baptiste Serin kicked 10 points for a 20-3 buffer.

Racing were under severe pressure, particularly with Stade proving stern opponents for Montpellier, but they responded excellently.

Yannick Nyanga and Leone Nakarawa reduced the deficit before Carter, a man that has received plenty of criticism this season, proved to be the match-winner.

The scorers:

For Racing 92:
Tries: Nyanga, Nakarawa, Carter
Cons: Carter 2
Pen: Carter
Yellow Card: Le Roux

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Ashley-Cooper, Connor
Cons: Serin 2
Pens: Serin 2
Yellow Card: Madaule

Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Casey Laulala, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Viliamu Afatia
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Gerbrandt Grobler, 19 Antonie Claassen, 20 James Hart, 21 Remi Tales, 22 Teddy Thomas, 23 Luc Ducalcon

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Darly Domvo, 14 Nans Ducuing, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 Jandré Marais, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Benãt Auzqui, 17 Sébastien Taofifenua, 18 Cyril Cazeaux, 19 Luke Braid, 20 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Jean-Baptiste Dubie, 23 Marc Clerc

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant Referees: Luc Ramos, Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Arnaud Blondel

Toulon 32-12 Pau

Toulon secured a home play-off as they saw off Pau 32-12 at Stade Mayol, thanks largely to a dominant first-half performance on Saturday.

Tries before the interval from full-back Leigh Halfpenny, tighthead prop Levan Chilachava and hooker Guilhem Guirado sent Toulon into the dressing room leading 22-5, with Pau wing Mosese Ratuvou's try their only offering for a side that was still hoping to make the top six.

Watisoni Votu scored first after the break for Pau on the hour mark, making it 22-12, with Toulon struggling to replicate their first 40.

Halfpenny then slotted three points off the tee on 69 minutes to push his side into a 13-point lead before Drew Mitchell added the icing on the cake with a try with two minutes remaining, converted by Halfpenny, as Toulon finish the season in third place ahead of the knockouts.

The scorers:

For Toulon:
Tries: Halfpenny, Chilachava, Guirado, Mitchell
Cons: Halfpenny 3
Pens: Halfpenny 2

For Pau:
Tries: Ratuvou, Votu
Con: Taylor

Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Juandre Kruger, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Laurent Del Boulbes
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Mamuka Gorgodze, 19 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Pierre Bernard, 21 Jimmy Yobo, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Marcel Van der Merwe

Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Mosese Ratuvou, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Pierrick Gunther, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Masalosalo Tutaia, 3 Malik Hamadache, 2 Quentin Lespiaucq, 1 Jamie Mackintosh
Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Jérémy Hurou, 18 Fabrice Metz, 19 Ben Mowen, 20 Daniel Ramsay, 21 Julien Tomas, 22 Santiago Fernández, 23 Sylvain Charlet

Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant Referees: Thierry Mallet, Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure

Toulouse 40-12 Bayonne

Toulouse ended a hugely disappointing season on a positive note on Saturday as they beat relegated Bayonne 40-12 in a bonus-point success.

They led 28-12 at the break thanks to tries from Yoann Huget, Alexis Palisson and two from Yann David, with Toby Flood adding the extras.

Benjamin Thiery and Romain Martial scored in reply for Bayonne as the league's lowly side refused to throw in the towel on their farewell.

Florian Fritz claimed the first try after the break which made it 35-12 with Flood's conversion and the bonus-point was now in their grasp, with Paul Perez making sure of the maximum with four minutes remaining as Toulouse ran out comfortable winners to finish in 12th spot.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Tries: Huget, Palisson, David 2, Fritz, Perez
Cons: Flood 5
Yellow Card: Johnston

For Bayonne:
Tries: Thiery, Martial
Con: Bustos Moyano

Toulouse: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Toby Flood, 12 Yann David, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Gillian Galan, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Christopher Tolofua, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Francois Cros, 20 Talalelei Gray, 21 Samuel Marques, 22 Florian Fritz, 23 Maks van Dyk

Bayonne: 15 Martin Bustos Moyano, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Felix Le Bourhis, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Romain Martial, 10 Benjamin Thiery, 9 Manu Saubusse, 8 PJ Van Lill, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Jean Jo Marmouyet, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Pablo Huete, 3 Richard Choirat, 2 Grégory Arganese, 1 Aretz Iguiniz
Replacements: 16 Simon Labouyrie, 17 Jéróme Schuster, 18 Dion Evrard Oulai, 19 Tom Donnelly, 20 Bastien Duhalde, 21 Lucas Mèret, 22 Bastien Fuster, 23 Lorenzo Cittadini

Referee: Maxime Chalon
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Delpy, Sébastien Hebert
TMO: Eric Gauzins