Montpellier thrash La Rochelle, Racing 92 edge Toulon
Montpellier and Racing 92 consolidated first and second position respectively with wins over La Rochelle and Toulon in Sunday's Top 14 action.
Montpellier 40-24 La Rochelle
Montpellier consolidated their lead at the summit of the Top 14 with a comprehensive 40-24 victory over La Rochelle at Altrad Stadium on Sunday.
Tries from Nemani Nadolo, Louis Picamoles, Bismarck du Plessis, Kelian Galetier and a Jesse Mogg brace as well as five Ruan Pienaar conversions proved too much for La Rochelle who scored through Paul Jordaan, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Pierre Boudehent.
It was La Rochelle who opened the scoring through Jordaan in the 11th minute. Mogg responded for Montpol in the 13th minute. However, Kerr-Barlow restored the lead for the visitors four minutes later.
But once again the away side were pegged back when Nadolo went over to level the scores at 14-14 after Pienaar had converted with 25 minutes gone.
Five minutes later, Picamoles crashed over to ensure the hosts took a 21-17 lead into the interval with the momentum well and truly back in their favour.
Montpellier hooker Du Plessis made it 28-17 when he burrowed over six minutes after the interval before Galetier got himself on the scoresheet six minutes after that in the 52nd minute.
It was beginning to look very one-sided when Mogg cruised in under the posts for his brace to give the Altrad outfit a commanding 40-17 lead.
Boudehent's 72nd minute try would give La Rochelle a little bit more respectability on the scoreboard but in the end there was no hiding the fact they were comprehensively outplayed as they went down 40-24 in the end.
The scorers:
For Montpellier:
Tries: Mogg 2, Nadolo, Picamoles, Du Plessis
Cons: Pienaar 5
For La Rochelle:
Tries: Jordaan, Kerr-Barlow, Boudehent
Cons: Lamb 2, James
Pen: Lamb
Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Alexandre Dumoulin, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kelian Galletier, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Jimi Maximin, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Enzo Sanga, 21 Vincent Martin, 22 Joseph Tomane, 23 Mohammed Haouas
La Rochelle: 15 Romaric Camou, 14 Pierre Boudehent, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Benjamin Noble, 11 Elliot Roudil, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Dom Barrow, 5 Thomas Jolmes, 4 William Demotte, 3 Mohamed Boughanmi, 2 Hikairo Forbes, 1 Kamaliele Tufele
Replacements: 16 Jeremie Maurouard, 17 Vincent Pelo, 18 Romain Sazy, 19 Gregory Alldritt, 20 Mathieu Tanguy, 21 Brock James, 22 Steeve Barry, 23 Lekso Kaulashvili
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Ludovic Cayre, Sebastien Hebert
TMO: Patrick Dellac
Racing 92 17-13 Toulon
Racing 92 now have breathing space between themselves and third place after a 17-13 victory over Toulon in a close-fought encounter at U Arena.
A Virimi Vakatawa brace proved too much for Toulon who scored through a sole Malakai Fekitoa try.
After Toulouse went down 28-23 at Castres on Saturday, the Parisians have now opened up a four-point lead over them in second place.
Racing have now claimed the scalps of Clermont and Toulon in successive weeks while Toulon have slipped up twice in a row after their disappointing Champions Cup quarter-final exit to Munster last weekend.
The only real action of the opening ten minutes saw the fly-halves exchange penalties.
In the 23rd minute, the game was brought sparkling to life by the effervescent Vakatawa, who sprinted over for a fine individual effort to give Racing a 10-3 lead after Maxime Machenaud had added the extras.
But just two minutes later, Toulon were level courtesy of an equally impressive solo effort from Fekitoa as the sides went into the interval locked at 10-10.
Two minutes after the break, Vakatawa had his brace, this time a simpler finish, to hand his side a 17-10 lead. Francois Trinh-Duc's 58th minute penalty cut the deficit to four and made things interesting but the Parisians held on for a crucial win.
The scorers:
For Racing 92:
Tries: Vakatawa 2
Cons: Machenaud 2
Pen: Machenaud
For Toulon:
Try: Fekitoa
Con: Trinh-Duc
Pens: Trinh-Duc 2
Racing 92: 15 Louis Dupichot, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Viliamu Afatia, 18 Boris Palu, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Teddy Iribaren, 21 Dan Carter, 22 Teddy Thomas, 23 Ben Tameifuna
Toulon: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Mathieu Bastareaud, 11 Semi Radradra, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Eric Escande, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Jean Monribot, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Juandre Kruger, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Anthony Belleau, 21 Ma'a Nonu, 22 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 23 Marcel van der Merwe
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Julien Castaignede, Akim Hadj-Bachir
TMO: Denis Grenouillet