Wins for Montpellier, Oyonnax, Pau, Toulon, Clermont

Montpellier won the big clash at the top against Racing 92 while there were also wins for Oyonnax, Pau, Toulon and Clermont Auvergne.

Montpellier 41-3 Racing 92

Montpellier won the top-of-the-table Top 14 clash in style on Saturday as they beat Racing 92 41-3 in a one-sided affair at Altrad Stadium.

This win moves them eight points clear at the summit until Sunday at least, as they ran in five tries in an impressive bonus-point success.

Montpellier led 13-3 thanks to Jan Serfontein's try but after the interval they cut loose through scores from Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Serfontein, Timoci Nagusa and Louis Picamoles, with Racing 92 struggling to live with their hosts as they went down to a crushing negative.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Tries: Serfontein 2, Janse van Rensburg, Nagusa, Picamoles
Cons: Pienaar 5
Pens: Pienaar 2
Yellow Card: J du Plessis

For Racing 92:
Pen: Lambie

Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Francois Steyn, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Martin Devergie, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gregory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Jimi Maximin, 19 Kevin Kornath, 20 Enzo Sanga, 21 Alexandre Dumoulin, 22 Vincent Martin, 23 Davit Kubriashvili

Racing 92: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Anthony Tuitavake, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Louis Dupichot, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Leone Nakarawa, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Edwin Maka, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Vasil Kakovin
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Ben Tameifuna, 18 Boris Palu, 19 Antonie Claassen, 20 Antoine Gibert, 21 Albert Vulivuli, 22 Juan Imhoff, 23 Luc Ducalcon

Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: Sebastien Minery, Jean-Luc Rebollal
TMO: Denis Grenouillet

Bordeaux-Begles 20-26 Oyonnax

Oyonnax’s remarkable recent form continued as they made it three successive victories after overcoming Bordeaux-Begles 26-20.

Adrien Buononato’s men were excellent in the early stages and went 17-0 ahead thanks to tries from Mitch Inman and Quentin MacDonald.

Although UBB hit back via Ed Fidow’s converted effort, a second Ben Botica three-pointer moved the visitors 20-7 clear.

Bordeaux began to come back into the contest when Simon Hickey was successful twice off the tee in quick succession, but Botica allayed Oyonnax’s fears with a third penalty.

Buononato’s side were well in control of the encounter and their fly-half effectively completed the win with 13 minutes remaining, despite Apisai Naqalevu’s late try.

The scorers:

For Bordeaux:
Tries: Fidow, Naqalevu
Cons: Hickey, Schoeman
Pens: Hickey 2

For Oyonnax:
Tries: Inman, MacDonald
Cons: Botica 2
Pens: Botica 4

Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Ed Fidow, 13 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 12 Romain Lonca, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Luke Jones, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Jandré Marais, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Sebastien Taofifenua
Replacements: 16 Florian Dufour, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Johan Aliouat, 19 Alexandre Roumat, 20 Gauthier Doubrere, 21 Apisai Naqalevu, 22 Tiaan Schoeman, 23 Jean-Baptiste Poux

Oyonnax: 15 Quentin Etienne Lecoq, 14 Dug Codjo, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Ulupano Seuteni, 11 Daniel Ikpefan, 10 Ben Botica, 9 James Hall, 8 Curtis Browning, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Hikawera Elliot, 5 Valentin Ursache, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Irakli Mirtskhulava, 2 Quentin MacDonald, 1 Tommy Raynaud
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Geledan, 17 Khatchik Vartanov, 18 Christian Njewel, 19 Bilel Taieb, 20 Jeremy Gondrand, 21 Axel Muler, 22 Roimata Hansell-Pune, 23 Vincent Debaty

Referee: Pierre Brousset
Assistant referees: Sebastien Boyer, Frederic Chazal
TMO: Denis Grenouillet

Pau 18-15 La Rochelle

Thibault Daubagna kicked a late penalty as Pau secured a sixth successive victory after defeating La Rochelle 18-15.

Simon Mannix’s men have been outstanding recently and they showed why in the first half, crossing the whitewash twice via Colin Slade and Charly Malie.

Slade also added a conversion and a penalty, while Alexi Bales responded with two three-pointers of his own before the break.

The hosts duly began the second period 15-6 in front but that was reduced to six points by the accurate boot of Bales.

Patrice Collazo’s side began to gain a foothold in the contest and their scrum-half levelled matters with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Daubagna had the final word, however, kicking the winning points with the last action of the encounter.

The scorers:

For Pau:
Tries: Slade, Malie
Con: Slade
Pens: Slade, Daubagna

For La Rochelle:
Pens: Bales 5

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 Baptiste Pesenti, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Daniel Ramsay, 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

La Rochelle: 15 Arthur Retiere, 14 Elliot Roudil, 13 Vincent Rattez, 12 Pierre Aguillon, 11 Steeve Barry, 10 Jeremy Sinzelle, 9 Alexis Balès, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Afaesetiti Amosa, 6 Levani Botia, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Lekso Kaulashvili
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Leo Aouf, 18 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Gregory Alldritt, 20 Jean Victor Goillot, 21 Benjamin Noble, 22 Charles Bouldoire, 23 Luc Mousset

Referee: Cedric Marchat
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas, Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Laurent Sclafer

Toulon 54-5 Agen

Vincent Clerc touched down for the 100th time in the Top 14 as Toulon secured a dominant 54-5 triumph over strugglers Agen.

The hosts controlled the match from the start and went 7-0 ahead via Clerc’s record-breaking effort.

Valentin Saurs did hit back for Philippe Sella’s men but the Stade Mayol outfit had too much quality and were 21-5 ahead at the break through Facundo Isa and Chris Ashton.

Ashton added the fourth try in the second period, continuing his scoring form, before Laurent Delboulbes and Isa crossed the whitewash.

The discarded England wing then completed his hat-trick and Malakai Fekitoa scored late on to rubberstamp a comfortable win.

The scorers:

For Toulon:
Tries: Clerc, Isa 2, Ashton 3, Delboulbes, Fekitoa
Cons: Belleau 5, Wisniewski 2

For Agen:
Try: Saurs

Toulon: 15 Chris Ashton, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Facundo Isa, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Corentin Vernet, 4 Juandre Kruger, 3 Emerick Setiano, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Laurent DelBoulbes, 18 Samu Manoa, 19 Jean Monribot, 20 Jonathan Wisniewski, 21 Ma'a Nonu, 22 Alby Mathewson, 23 Marcel van der Merwe

Agen: 15 Loris Tolot, 14 Nicolas Metge, 13 Julien Heriteau, 12 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 11 Valentin Saurs, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Paul Abadie, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Antoine Erbani, 6 Marco Kotze, 5 Corentin Braendlin, 4 Leandro Cedaro, 3 Vakhtangi Akhobadze, 2 Marc Barthomeuf, 1 Giorgi Tetrashvili
Replacements: 16 Loick Jammes, 17 Morgan Phelipponneau, 18 Akapusi Qera, 19 Vincent Farre, 20 Hugo Verdu, 21 Thomas Vincent, 22 Mathieu Lamoulie, 23 Arthur Joly

Referee: Jonathan Dufort
Assistant referees: Laurent Millotte, Laurent Breil
TMO: Patrick Dellac

Brive 9-11 Clermont

Peceli Yato crossed the whitewash late on as Clermont Auvergne eased relegation concerns following a 11-9 victory over Brive.

With so much stake it was an unsurprisingly tight affair as both sides struggled to gain much fluency throughout.

Thomas Laranjeira found the target early on from the tee but it took until the 40th minute for the next score when Dorian Lavernhe scored a three-pointer for Clermont.

The hosts began the second period on the front foot and moved 9-3 in front via Laranjeira and Gaetan Germain penalties but, after Luke McAlister had reduced the deficit, Yato’s late intervention rescued a dramatic win for Les Jaunards.

The scorers:

For Brive:
Pens: Laranjeira 2, Germain

For Clermont:
Try: Yato
Pens: Lavernhe, McAlister
Yellow Card: Van der Merwe

Brive: 15 Thomas Laranjeira, 14 Guillaume Namy, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Sevenaia Galala, 11 Benito Masilevu, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Petrus Hauman, 7 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Peet Marais, 4 Julien Ledevedec, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 Vivien Devisme
Replacements: 16 Francois Da Ros, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Damien Lagrange, 19 Etienne Herjean, 20 Samuel Marques, 21 Felix Le Bourhis, 22 Gaetan Germain, 23 Damien Jourdain

Clermont: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 David Strettle, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Dorian Lavernhe, 9 William Hutteau, 8 Peceli Yato, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Michael Simutoga, 2 Yohan Beheregaray, 1 Loni Uhila
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Maxence Barjaud, 19 Camille Gerondeau, 20 Luke McAlister, 21 Damian Penaud, 22 Nick Abendanon, 23 Aaron Jarvis

Referee: Adrien Descottes
Assistant referees: Mathieu Noirot, Arnaud Blondel
TMO: Eric Gauzins