Top 14 round-up: Former England stars inspire victories while Leinster legend’s late score not enough to halt thrashing

Lyon stretched their lead at the top of the Top 14 at the weekend with their third win on the bounce, while Vannes remain rooted at the base after failing to win once again.

Here’s the full round-up from the French top division.

Castres 29-27 Toulon

Castres bounced back from their narrow loss to Perpignan in round two by beating the unfortunate Toulon, who have lost all three matches so far by a grand total of just four points.

Toulon appeared to be in the driving seat for much of the game, leading from the 10th minute until the 71st – when Remy Baget crossed over to level the scores, before Theo Vidal slotted the conversion to win the game. Their misfortune commenced just two minutes before, when Teddy Baubigny was shown a yellow card, causing the visitors to play the final 10 minutes a man down.

The result leaves Toulon one place off bottom, but with three losing bonus points to their name, while Castres sit comfortably in seventh on eight points.

Bayonne 46-24 Clermont

Manu Tuilagi got on the scoresheet as Bayonne bounced back from an awful display against Pau to beat a Clermont side hamstrung by a second-half red card.

The hosts took an impressive lead heading into the half, up 27 points to their opponents’ three. But a moment of indiscipline from Rodrigo Bruni saw him sent to the bin, and Clermont scored thrice in the next 11 minutes.

Marcos Kremer was next to change the game to his side’s detriment, receiving his marching orders a minute after teammate Harry Plummer converted Clermont’s third try. Three tries from the hosts later, and the game was Bayonne’s.

Bayonne now sit in sixth place on nine points in the table, while Clermont drop down to ninth on five points.

La Rochelle 10-20 Racing 92

An impressive showing from Nolann Le Garrec was not enough to stop the visitors, as tries from Max Spring and Romain Taofifenua, and a sublime kicking performance from Geronimo Prisciantelli saw Racing 92 take the game away from their hosts in the second half.

La Rochelle were in complete control in the first half, nilling their opponents, but a flurry of changes after the break saw the game flip, and Racing 92 now have their first win of the season, lifting them off the bottom of the table with four points, while La Rochelle drop to eighth on eight points.

Lyon 52-25 Pau

The league leaders were excellent once again, with Fijian winger Jiuta Wainiqolo and former Exeter Chiefs number eight Sam Simmonds getting on the scoresheet. In fact, their tries, either side of Pau’s Baptiste Pesenti’s red card, altered the course of the game. The scores were level before Wainiqolo went over in the 48th minute, and Simmonds’ subsequent try, plus Camille Chat’s following one, would take the famous club beyond reproach.

Lyon sit clear at the top of the table with 14 points, while Pau drop down to fifth on nine points with this loss.

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Montpellier 50-13 Perpignan

This was a huge win for Montpellier, beating a Perpignan side fresh off an impressive victory over Castres the week before. But again, indiscipline played a big part, with Lucas Velarte’s 35th-minute yellow card perhaps playing a part in the two tries the hosts would score in his absence.

With the hosts having taken a comprehensive lead, they put their foot on the gas and drove away with the victory in the second half. So much so that by the time former Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg arrived on the field to kick a couple of conversions, the game was effectively done.

A late try from former Leinster man Luke McGrath was not enough to alter the game as Perpignan dropped down to 10th on just five points, while Montpellier continued their impressive start to the season by taking fourth spot on nine points.

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Vannes 23-29 Toulouse

The Galacticos of Toulouse had to fight hard to work their way past Vannes on Saturday, coming from behind to take all five points at Roazhon Park.

It was Santiago Chocobares’ brilliant running line that would get the South of France back into contention, and from then on it was all one-way traffic. Vannes’ Ben Stevenson would be the focus of the second half, for good and for bad, scoring the try that would get his side back into the game, before being sent to the bin just eight minutes later.

Blair Kinghorn scored the winning try with just 12 minutes left on the clock, securing third place in the table, while Vannes remain stuck to the bottom on zero points from three.

Bordeaux Begles 40-10 Stade Francais

Sunday’s only match involved the reigning European champions against a side that finished 12th last season, and it went exactly as expected.

Despite not having their superstar winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey available, the hosts were not short of star quality, running in six tries, including one for substitute playmaker Hugo Reus, who was forced on in just the 13th minute for an injured Matthieu Jalibert. Stade Francais’ only additions came in the opening minutes with a try through Mathis Ibo, and a couple of shots at goal from Louis Foursans-Bourdette.

Bordeaux Begles sit in second place, level on points with Toulouse, while Stade Francais fall back to 11th on four points.

Table

#	TEAM	FORM					P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TBP	LBP	BP	PTS
1	Lyon	WWW					3	3	0	0	139	92	47	0	0	0	14
2	Bordeaux Begles	WLW					3	2	0	1	116	63	53	0	0	0	10
3	Stade Toulousain	LWW					3	2	0	1	104	65	39	0	0	0	10
4	Montpellier	LWW					3	2	0	1	95	52	43	0	0	0	9
5	Section Paloise	WWL					3	2	0	1	122	98	24	0	0	0	9
6	Bayonnais	WLW					3	2	0	1	101	120	-19	0	0	0	9
7	Castres Olympique	WLW					3	2	0	1	87	90	-3	0	0	0	8
8	La Rochelle	WWL					3	2	0	1	61	67	-6	0	0	0	8
9	Clermont	LWL					3	1	0	2	85	102	-17	0	0	0	5
10	USA Perpignan	LWL					3	1	0	2	82	107	-25	0	0	0	5
11	Stade Francais	WLL					3	1	0	2	54	91	-37	0	0	0	4
12	Racing 92	LLW					3	1	0	2	56	122	-66	0	0	0	4
13	Toulon	LLL					3	0	0	3	73	77	-4	0	0	0	3
14	Vannes	LLL					3	0	0	3	55	84	-29	0	0	0	0

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