Pau beat Grenoble, 14-man Toulon edge Castres

Editor

Pau held on to seal a 24-21 win over Grenoble before 14-man Toulon ended their drought with a 28-27 victory over champions Castres at Stade Mayol.

Grenoble 21-24 Pau

Pau made it two wins out of three in the Top 14 this term after they beat struggling new boys Grenoble 24-21 at Stade des Alps on Sunday.

Leading 14-6 at the break, the visitors kept their recently promoted hosts at arm’s length until a late score set up a nervy finish for them.

Jesse Mogg got Pau going with a 14th minute crossing before Julien Blanc went over five minutes from the break to give them a handy buffer.

Grenoble responded nine minutes into the second-half when Pablo Uberti crossed, but Lourens Adriaanse hit back for Pau to make it 24-14.

And despite Grenoble number eight Loic Godener scoring with six minutes to play, Pau managed to hold on for an important win on the road.

The scorers:

For Grenoble:
Tries: Uberti, Godener
Con: Pourteau
Pens: Pourteau 3

For Pau:
Tries: Mogg, Blanc, Adriaanse
Cons: Taylor 3
Pen: Taylor
Yellow Card: Pesenti

Grenoble: 15 Lolagi Visinia, 14 Taleta Tupuola, 13 Pablo Uberti, 12 Alaska Taufa, 11 Daniel Kilioni, 10 Franck Pourteau, 9 Lilian Saseras 8 Loic Godener, 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Killian Geraci, 5 Hans Nkinsi, 4 Leva Fifita, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Replacements: 16 Duncan Casey, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Francois Uys, 19 Antonin Berruyer, 20 Taiasina Tuifua, 21 Ben Lucas, 22 Raymond Rhule, 23 Ali Oz

Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Jesse Mogg, 13 Benson Stanley, 12 Florian Nicot, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Julien Blanc, 8 Paddy Butler, 7 Martin Puech, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Daniel Ramsay, 3 Malik Hamadache, 2 Laurent Bouchet, 1 Jamie Mackintosh
Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Geoffrey Moise, 18 Fabrice Metz, 19 Antoine Erbani, 20 Thibault Daubagna, 21 Antoine Hastoy, 22 Jale Vatubua, 23 Lourens Adriaanse

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant referees: Mathieu Noirot, Bruno Gabaldon
Television match official: Éric Briquet Campin

Toulon 28-27 Castres

Toulon claimed their first win of the season on Sunday as they beat Toulon 28-27, this despite Mathieu Bastareaud being red carded late on.

It had looked like being a third straight loss for Patrice Collazo’s men when 27-20 down and with Bastareaud being sent-off for use of the forearm to the head of a Castres player on the ground. However they ground out a victory to get their season up and running at Stade Mayol.

Filipo Nakosi scored the winning try in the 78th minute but for Bastareaud he is surely now set for a spell on the sidelines after his act.

The match began well for Toulon when new signing Liam Messam crossed after just four minutes but wing Martin Laveau responded for Castres.

7-5 became 10-5 to Toulon when fly-half Anthony Belleau slotted a penalty on 15 minutes. However, then Castres found their rhythm with two Benjamin Urdapilleta penalties and scrum-half Rory Kockott’s try pushing the visitors and Top 14 holders into an 18-10 lead on 28 minutes.

Stéphane Onambele Mbarga did reduce the margin to three points when he scored but an Urdapilleta drop-goal meant it was 21-15 at the break.

The always reliable Urdapilleta was on target again early in the second period with two penalty goals either side of a much-needed try for Toulon from loosehead prop Sebastien Taofifenua, which meant Castres were 27-20 up with 28 minutes remaining on the clock at Stade Mayol.

But while Toulon’s hopes were dented with 10 minutes remaining when centre Bastareaud was sent-off, Castres lock Christophe Samson was also yellow carded. Step forward wing Nakosi who took Messam’s pass to sprint over on the right wing to seal a much-needed four points for Toulon.

The scorers:

For Toulon:
Tries: Messam, Mbarga, Taofifenua, Nakosi
Con: Belleau
Pens: Belleau, Carbonel
Red Card: Bastareaud

For Castres:
Tries: Laveau, Kockott
Con: Urdapilleta
Pens: Urdapilleta 4
Drop goal: Urdapilleta
Yellow Cards: Stroe, Samson

Toulon: 15 Jonah Placid, 14 Filipo Nakosi, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Stéphane Onambele Mbarga, 6 Swan Rebbadj, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Juandre Kruger, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Sebastien Taofifenua
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Jaques Potgieter, 19 Jean Monribot, 20 Malakai Fekitoa, 21 Louis Carbonel, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Emerick Setiano

Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Camille Gerondeau, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Marc Clerc, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Victor Moreaux, 19 Baptiste Delaporte, 20 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 21 Armand Batlle, 22 Florian Vialelle, 23 Paea Fa’anunu

Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon, Richard Duhau
Television match official: Philippe Bonhoure