Top 14 Wrap: Castres sink Clermont

Editor

Castres rose up the table thanks to their win over Clermont in the first of four matches on Saturday, with Brive beating Toulon in the evening.

Results

Saturday

Castres 26-16 Clermont
Grenoble 19-10 Racing 92
Bayonne 25-25 Pau
Brive 15-5 Toulon


Castres 26-16 Clermont
Stade Pierre Antoine

Castres kept up their impressive run of form at home with a 26-16 victory over Top 14 leaders Clermont on Saturday.

Christophe Urios' side outscored les Jaunards by two tries to one and were seen over the finish line thanks to the boots of Rory Kockott and Benjamin Urdapilleta.

Ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures, Castres momentarily climb up to third in the table.

Clermont opened the scoring after 18 minutes thanks to a Stephen Brett penalty, Kockott quickly replying, before the visitors lost number eight Peceli Yato to a yellow card.

Castres capitalised five minutes later thanks to a converted try from Jody Jenneker, but Clermont hit back through Nick Abendanon shortly before the break thanks to Nick Abendanon.

The shootout continued in the second half – Urdapilleta and Ludovic Radosavljevic taking over from Kockott and Brett – before Anthony Jelonch's converted try and a drop goal from Urdapilleta sealed another impressive win.

The scorers:

For Castres:
Tries: Jenneker, Jelonch
Cons: Kockott, Urdapilleta
Pens: Kockott 2, Urdapilleta
Drop Goal: Urdapilleta

For Clermont:
Try: Abendanon
Con: Brett
Pens: Brett 2, Radosavljevic
Yellow Card: Yato

Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 David Smith, 10 Julien Dumora, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Alexandre Bias, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Lo%u200Bïc Jacquet, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Victor Moreaux, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Antoine Dupont, 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 22 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 23 Damien Tussac

Clermont: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 David Strettle, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Damian Penaud, 11 Adrien Planté, 10 Stephen Brett , 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Peceli Yato, 7 Judicael Cancoriet, 6 Camille Gerondeau, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Charlie Cassang, 21 Alivereti Raka, 22 Setariki Tuicuvu, 23 Aaron Jarvis

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant Referees: Vivien Praderie, Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Sébastien Minery


Grenoble 19-10 Racing 92
Stade des Alpes

Chris Masoe's early red card helped Grenoble pave the way for a 19-10 win over last season's champions to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation.

A late converted score from Teddy Thomas added some respectability to the scoreline but in truth this was always Grenoble's game to lose, building up a sizeable lead through the boot of fly-half Jonathan Wisniewski.

Masoe was red carded in the fifth minute for a high tackle, Wisniewski converting the resulting penalty, and two more efforts from the fly-half to one from James Hart meant Grenoble led 9-3 at the break.

Wisniewski's fourth penalty stretched the gap and after Racing went down to 13 following a yellow card for Benjamin Dambielle, Grenoble grabbed the game's first try in the 54th minute through Lucas Dupont.

Despite a yellow card for Wisniewski the hosts then held out for their fifth win of the season.

The scorers:

For Grenoble:
Try: Dupont
Con: Wisniewski
Pens: Wisniewski 4
Yellow Card: Wisniewski

For Racing 92:
Try: Thomas
Con: Dambielle
Pen: Hart
Yellow Card: Dambielle
Red Card: Masoe

Grenoble: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Lucas Dupont, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Nigel Hunt, 11 Armand Batlle, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Rory Grice, 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Hendrik Roodt, 4 Mathias Marie, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Denis Coulson
Replacements: 16 Loïck Jammes,17 Dylan Jacquot, 18 Aly Muldowney, 19 Mahamadou Diaby, 20 Lilian Saseras, 21 Gilles Bosch, 22 Fabrice Estebanez, 23 Jarrod Firth

Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Etienne Dussartre, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Benjamin Dambielle, 9 James Hart, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 So'otala Fa'aso'o, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Viliamu Afatia
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Khatchik Vartanov, 18 Thibault Dubarry, 19 Antonie Claassen, 20 Mathieu Loree, 21 Franck Pourteau, 22 Teddy Thomas, 23 Ben Tameifuna

Referee: Pascal Gauzère
Assistant Referees: Thierry Mallet, Thierry Guilloton
TMO: Eric Briquet Campin


Bayonne 25-25 Pau
Stade Jean Dauger

Bayonne and Pau couldn't be separated after 80 minutes at the Stade Jean Dauger, with Tom Taylor's 75th-minute penalty for Pau meaning the match finished at 25-all.

Overall it was Taylor's five penalties to six from Martin Bustos Moyano, who finished with 20 points, that kept both teams in the hunt.

Pau opened the scoring through Watisoni Votu's converted try before a Bustos Moyano penalty made it 7-3. Slade then knocked over a three-pointer but Bayonne were soon level, flanker Baptiste Chouzenoux crossing with Bustos Moyano converting to make it 10-10.

From there the penalty shootout began, Bayonne ahead 16-13 at the break thanks to Bustos Moyano.

And in the second-half both Bustos Moyano and Taylor continued to trade shots, the gap only ever getting as big as six points, before Taylor's fifth penalty levelled the scores.

The scorers:

For Bayonne:
Try: Chouzenoux
Con: Bustos Moyano
Pens: Bustos Moyano 6

For Pau:
Try: Votu
Con: Slade
Pens: Slade, Taylor 5

Bayonne: 15 Martin Bustos Moyano, 14 Romain Martial, 13 Félix Le Bourhis, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Julien Jane, 10 Raphaël Lagarde, 9 Manu Saubusse, 8 PJ Van Lill, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 John Beattie, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Pablo Huete, 3 Toma Taufa, 2 Manu Leiataua, 1 Aretz Iguiniz
Replacements: 16 Grégory Arganese, 17 Jérôme Schuster, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Tanerau Latimer, 20 Bastien Duhalde, 21 Lucas Meret, 22 Martin Laveau, 23 Lorenzo Cittadini

Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Mosese Ratuvou, 13 Julien Fumat, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Steffon Armitage, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Paddy Butler, 5 Daniel Ramsay, 4 Fabrice Metz, 3 Sylvain Charlet, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Jeremy Hurou
Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Masalosalo Tutaia, 19 James Coughlan, 20 Pierrick Gunther, 21 Thibault Daubagna, 22 Tom Taylor, 23 Malik Hamadache

Referee: Salem Attalah
Assistant Referees: Vincent Blasco Baque, Laurent Amic
TMO: Denis Grenouillet


Brive 15-5 Toulon
Stade Amédée Domenech

Toulon missed the chance to move up to fifth place in the standings as they suffered a 15-5 defeat to Brive at Stade Amédée Domenech.

Mike Ford's struggling charges were scoreless until the 75th minute as Brive clocked up their points via the boots of full-back Gaëtan Germain and replacement Thomas Laranjeira, who ended with 12 points to his name.

It was 6-0 at the interval before Laranjeira added a further three penalties, with the latter coming after Ma'a Nonu was yellow carded.

Habana would have the final say for Toulon but it came in vain as the visitors head home with no points to show in a dismal showing.

The scorers:

For Brive:
Pens: Germain, Laranjeira 4

For Toulon:
Try: Habana
Yellow Card: Nonu

Brive: 15 Gaëtan Germain, 14 Guillaume Namy, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Sevenaia Galala, 11 Benito Masilevu, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Petrus Hauman, 7 Fabien Sanconnie, 6 Said Hireche, 5 Sisa Koyamaibole, 4 Johan Snyman, 3 Patrick-Albert Toetu, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Karlen Asieshvili
Replacements: 16 Francois Da Ros, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Jan Uys, 19 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 20 Poutasi Luafutu, 21 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 22 Thomas Laranjeira, 23 Damien Jourdain

Toulon: 15 Drew Mitchell, 14 Alesana Tuilagi, 13 François Trinh-Duc, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Éric Escande, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Mamuka Gorgodze, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Laurent DelBoulbes
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Samu Manoa, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Jocelino Suta, 21 Ben Barba, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Marcel Van der Merwe

Referee: Jérôme Garcès
Assistant Referees: Laurent Millotte, Jacques De Lemos
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure