Top 14 Wrap: Lyon beat Toulon, Agen shock Montpellier
Lyon claimed their 11th win from 18 games in the Top 14 season as they beat Toulon 15-6 to give their play-off hopes a boost.
Elsewhere there were victories for Racing 92 over Brive, Pau over Castres, Toulouse at Bordeaux-Bègles andAgen shocked 14-man Montpellier in a surprise result.
Lyon 15-6 Toulon
Matmut Stadium Gerland
Lyon boosted their hopes of making the knockouts by edging playoff rivals Toulon 15-6 in a low scoring game at Matmut Stadium Gerland.
No tries were scored in the contest as the boot of Mike Harris proved crucial for the home outfit, as he finished with all his side's points.
Three of those five penalties came after the break and kept Toulon, who had two Anthony Belleau penalties to their name, out of reach.
The scorers:
For Lyon:
Pens: Harris 5
For Toulon:
Pens: Belleau 2
Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Toby Arnold, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Thibault Regard, 11 Delon Armitage, 10 Mike Harris, 9 Jonathan Pélissié, 8 Liam Gill, 7 Dylan Cretin, 6 Julien Puricelli, 5 Hendrik Roodt, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Clement Ric, 2 Mickael Ivaldi, 1 Albertus Buckle
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Stephane Clement, 18 Toa Halafihi, 19 Taiasina Tuifua, 20 Frédéric Michalak, 21 Felix Lambey, 22 Theo Belan, 23 Francisco Gomez Kodela
Toulon: 15 Chris Ashton, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Semi Radradra, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Facundo Isa, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Duane Vermeulen, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Marcel Van der Merwe, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Corentin Vernet, 19 Jean Monribot, 20 Jonathan Wisniewski, 21 Eneriko Buliruarua, 22 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 23 Emerick Setiano
Referee: Jérôme Garcès
Assistant referees: Julien Castaignède, Akim Hadj Bachir
Television match official: Mourad Zitouni
Racing 92 17-13 Brive
U Arena
Racing 92 closed the gap on Montpellier to just three points after they edged out Brive 17-13 at U Arena in a tense contest on Saturday.
Brice Dulin and Marc Andreu scored their two tries while Dan Carter added the conversions and Pat Lambie kicked a penalty in Paris.
All of those points came in the first-half with Brive scoring a try through Damien Lagrange and while Thomas Laranjeira kept them in touch with points from the tee, they could not pick up the scalp of their hosts in the second period.
The scorers:
For Racing 92:
Tries: Dulin, Andreu
Cons: Carter 2
Pen: Lambie
For Brive:
Try: Lagrange
Con: Laranjeira
Pens: Laranjeira 2
Yellow Card: Lagrange
Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Juan Imhoff, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Pat Lambie, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Edwin Maka, 19 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 20 Antoine Gibert, 21 Virimi Vakatawa, 22 Louis Dupichot, 23 Cedate Gomes Sa
Brive: 15 Thomas Laranjeira, 14 Benjamin Lapeyre, 13 Felix Le Bourhis, 12 Sevenaia Galala, 11 Guillaume Namy, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Petrus Hauman, 7 Fabien Sanconnie, 6 Etienne Herjean, 5 Damien Lagrange, 4 Jan Uys, 3 James Johnston, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 Karlen Asieshvili
Replacements: 16 Thomas Acquier, 17 Demba Bamba, 18 Peet Marais, 19 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 20 Samuel Marques, 21 Arnaud Mignardi, 22 Franck Romanet, 23 Soso Bekoshvili
Referee: Jonathan Dufort
Assistant referees: Sébastien Minery, Thierry Guilloton
Television match official: Patrick Dellac
Castres 27-29 Pau
Stade Pierre Fabre
Pau picked up a priceless 29-27 victory over play-off rivals Castres as their impressive Top 14 season continued at Stade Pierre Fabre.
Colin Slade, Watisoni Votu, Baptiste Pesenti and Julien Tomas scored for the visitors, Slade also adding three conversions and a penalty.
In reply Castres' crossings came via Armand Batlle, Marc-Antoine Rallier and Thomas Combezou as they missed the chance to close in on leaders Montpellier. They at least take a losing bonus-point which could yet prove key.
The scorers:
For Castres:
Tries: Batlle, Rallier, Combezou
Cons: Urdapilleta 3
Pens: Urdapilleta 2
For Pau:
Tries: Slade, Votu, Pesenti, Tomas
Cons: Slade 3
Pen: Slade
Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Armand Batlle, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Mathieu Babillot, 6 Baptiste Delaporte, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Thibault Lassalle, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Tudor Stroe
Replacements: 16 Jody Jenneker, 17 Eric Sione, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Maama Vaipulu, 20 Yannick Caballero, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Florian Vialelle, 23 Yohann Montes
Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Bastien Pourailly, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 Steffon Armitage, 7 Paddy Butler, 6 Baptiste Pesenti, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Fabrice Metz, 3 Malik Hamadache, 2 Quentin Lespiaucq, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Dave Foley, 19 Martin Puech, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Antoine Hastoy, 22 Julien Fumat, 23 Lourens Adriaanse
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon, Frédéric Chazal
Television match official: Éric Gauzins
Agen 31-29 Montpellier
Stade Armandie
Leaders Montpellier suffered a shock 31-29 loss at Agen as a red card for lock Jarrad Hoeata did not help their cause at Stade Armandie.
Hoeata was dismissed after six minutes which meant it was an uphill struggle for Montpol, who contested well throughout and scored tries through Louis Picamoles, Jesse Mogg, Joe Tomane and Romain Ruffenach.
Tamaz Mchedlidze, Johann Sadie, Jake McIntyre and Filipo Nakosi scored for Agen, with McIntyre crucially kicking 11 points off the tee.
The scorers:
For Agen:
Tries: Mchedlidze, Sadie, McIntyre, Nakosi
Cons: McIntyre 4
Pen: McIntyre
For Montpellier:
Tries: Picamoles, Mogg, Tomane, Ruffenach
Cons: Pienaar 2, Cruden
Pen: Pienaar
Yellow Card: Willemse
Red Card: Hoeata
Agen: 15 Loris Tolot, 14 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Pierre Fouyssac, 11 Filipo Nakosi, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Antoine Miquel, 5 Mickael De Marco, 4 Tom Murday, 3 Arthur Joly, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Quentin Bethune
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Denis Marchois, 19 Vincent Farre, 20 Paul Abadie, 21 Thomas Vincent, 22 Julien Heriteau, 23 Dave Ryan
Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Francois Steyn, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Joseph Tomane, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Davit Kubriashvili, 2 Charles Geli, 1 Gregory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Mohammed Haouas, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Martin Devergie, 20 Benoit Paillaugue, 21 Vincent Martin, 22 Gabriel Ngandebe, 23 Jannie du Plessis
Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Adrien Descottes, Jacques De Lemos
Television match official: Denis Grenouillet
Bordeaux-Bègles 19-25 Toulouse
Matmut Atlantique
Toulouse stayed amongst the frontrunners on the table when they claimed a hard-fought 25-19 victory over Bordeaux-Bègles.
The visitors led 14-7 at half-time thanks to converted tries from Maxime Medard and Piula Faasalele with Bordeaux-Bègles' points coming courtesy of a penalty try.
UBB narrowed the gap thanks to a Nick Frisby try but they were dealt a blow when Thierry Paiva was red carded for an illegal hit on Florian Fritz.
Thomas Ramos slotted a penalty for Toulouse before Yann David crossed the whitewash in the 65th minute but Peni Ravai also dotted down for the home side which ensured an exciting finish.
Toulouse secured victory when Ramos kicked the match-winning penalty in the 78th minute.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Penalty try, Frisby, Ravai
Con: Hickey
Red Card: Paiva
For Toulouse:
Tries: Medard, Faasalele, David
Cons: Holmes 2
Pens: Ramos 2
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Ed Fidow, 13 Romain Lonca, 12 Apisai Naqalevu, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Jandré Marais, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Florian Dufour, 1 Sebastien Taofifenua
Replacements: 16 Adrien Pelissie, 17 Thierry Paiva, 18 Johan Aliouat, 19 Cameron Woki, 20 Baptiste Serin, 21 Ben Volavola, 22 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 23 Peni Ravai
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Yann David, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Talalelei Gray, 7 Rynhard Elstadt, 6 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Piula Faasalele, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Danie Mienie
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Selevasio Tolofua, 20 François Cros, 21 Thomas Ramos, 22 Anthony Meric, 23 Dorian Aldegheri
Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: Vivien Praderie, Sébastien Hebert
Television match official: Laurent Sclafer