Top 14 Wrap: Racing respond

Editor

of Northampton Saints is tackled by of Racing Metro 92 during the European Rugby Champions Cup match between Northampton Saints and Racing Metro 92 at Franklin's Gardens on January 24, 2015 in Northampton, England.

Following Castres' victory over Toulouse, there were wins for La Rochelle, Pau, Grenoble and Racing 92 in the Top 14.

Stade Français, Agen, Oyonnax and Bordeaux-Bègles were their victims, with a total of three away wins coming on the day.

Results

Castres 15-9 Toulouse
La Rochelle 21-18 Stade Français
Agen 26-33 Pau
Oyonnax 20-27 Grenoble
Bordeaux-Bègles 20-28 Racing 92


La Rochelle 21-18 Stade Français
Stade Marcel Deflandre, La Rochelle

Stade Français suffered their tenth defeat of the Top 14 season as they lost to La Rochelle at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

A try in the second minute from home centre Pierre Aguillon set La Rochelle on their way but three Jules Plisson penalty goals meant it was 13-9 at the break, with Stade Français very much in the contest.

Plisson struck again soon after the break and was on-target once more on 63 minutes, but Zach Holmes' effort kept La Rochelle in front at 16-15.

Then came a crucial moment in the game as Lepani Botia went over for La Rochelle, making it 21-15, with Plisson's sixth penalty meaning Stade at least went home with a point.

The scorers:

For La Rochelle:
Tries: Aguillon, Botia
Con: Barraque
Pen: Barraque 2, Holmes

For Stade Francais:
Pen: Plisson 6

La Rochelle: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Pierre Berard, 13 Pierre Aguillon, 12 Lepani Botia, 11 Elliot Roudil, 10 Jean Pascal Barraque, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Jone Qovu, 7 Afaesetiti Amosa, 6 Romana Graham, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Jason Eaton, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Maxime Gau, 1 Thomas Synaeghel
Replacements: 
16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Mike Corbel, 18 Zeno Kieft, 19 Romain Sazy, 20 Kevin Gourdon, 21 Julien Audy, 22 Zack Holmes, 23 Gagi Bazadze

Stade Français: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Raphaël Lakafia, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 4 Hugh Pyle, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Laurent Sempere, 1 Aled de Malmanche
Replacements: 
16 Laurent Panis, 17 Zurab Zhvania, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Jono Ross, 20 Clement Daguin, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Paul Williams, 23 Paul Alo-Emile

Referee: Cyril Lafon


Agen 26-33 Pau
Stade Armandie, Agen

28 points from Colin Slade gave Pau a solid victory on the road at basement side Agen on Saturday.

The All Black scored two tries, three conversions and four penalties as Pau picked up their ninth win of the season.

Pau had to come from behind after Tamaz Mchedlidze crossed the whitewash on eight minutes and that they did as Jale Vatubua's try helped the visitors into a 10-5 lead.

Agen though would respond and went into the break leading 15-13 thanks to Sione Tau's try.

Burton Francis and Slade traded shots at goal early in the second-half but then Slade turned on the style in the closing 20 minutes, crossing twice as Pau enjoyed another victory.

The scorers:

For Agen:
Tries: Mchedlidze, Tau, Narjissi
Con: Francis
Pen: Francis 3

For Pau:
Tries: Vatuba, Slade 2
Con: Slade 3
Pen: Slade 4

Agen: 15 Mathieu Lamoulie, 14 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Pierre Fouyssac, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Clement Darbo, 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Sione Tau, 6 Marco Kotze, 5 William Demotte, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Arthur Joly, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 Arsene Nnomo
Replacements: 
16 Jalil Narjissi, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Denis Marchois, 19 Antoine Erbani, 20 Alexis Bales, 21 François Bouvier, 22 Benoit Sicart, 23 Dave Ryan

Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Julien Fumat, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Mathieu Acebes, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Jean Bouilhou, 6 Paddy Butler, 5 Abdellatif Boutaty, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Chris King
Replacements: 
16 Quentin Lespiaucq, 17 Julien Jacquot, 18 Jovili Domolailai, 19 Daniel Ramsay, 20 Samuel Marques, 21 Brandon Fajardo, 22 Damien Traille, 23 Euan Murray

Referee: Pascal Gauzère


Oyonnax 20-27 Grenoble
Stade Charles Mathon, Oyonnax

Grenoble kept alive their play-off aspirations after they saw off Oyonnax, who had Silvere Tian red carded.

Mahamadou Diaby scored the all-important try on 77 minutes, with Jonathan Wisniewski adding the extras.

Oyonnax had led 15-11 at the break thanks to a score from Dug Codjo and a penalty try, Quentin Etienne Lecoq kicking the other five points. Grenoble's contribution came from Charl McLeod's try and the boot of Gilles Bosch.

Tian did cross for a try on the hour mark for Oyonnax which put them in control at 20-17 but when he was sent-off, Grenoble took their chance as Diaby went over to seal four points on the road.

The scorers:

For Oyonnax:
Tries: Codjo, Penalty Try, Tian
Con: Lecoq
Pen: Lecoq
Red: Tian (69 min)

For Grenoble:
Tries: McLeod, Diaby
Con: Wisniewski
Pen: Bosch 4, Wisniewski

Oyonnax: 15 Silvere Tian, 14 Dug Codjo, 13 Eamonn Sheridan, 12 Roimata Hansell-Pune, 11 Daniel Ikpefan, 10 Quentin Etienne Lecoq, 9 Julien Blanc, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 Geoffrey Fabbri, 4 Fabrice Metz, 3 Antoine Guillamon, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Lukas Rapant
Replacements: 
16 Thomas Bordes, 17 Laurent DelBoulbes, 18 Leon Power, 19 Olivier Missoup, 20 Nuku Swerling Finaipepe, 21 Fabien Cibray, 22 Regis Lespinas, 23 Stan Wright

Grenoble: 15 Fabien Gengenbacher, 14 Maritino Nemani, 13 Nigel Hunt, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Lucas Dupont, 10 Gilles Bosch, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Rory Grice, 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Mathias Marie, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Walter Desmaison, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Fabien Barcella
Replacements: 
16 Loick Jammes, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Henry Vanderglas, 19 Mahamadou Diaby, 20 James Hart, 21 Jonathan Wisniewski, 22 Gio Aplon, 23 Rossouw De Klerk

Referee: Romain Poite


Bordeaux-Bègles 20-28 Racing 92
Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux

Racing 92 bounced back from last week's loss to Toulon as they beat Bordeaux-Bègles at Matmut Atlantique.

Despite trailing 10-9 at the break after Metuisela Talebula scored an early try and Lionel Beauxis added another five points from the tee, Racing were a much-improved side in the second-half.

Antonie Claassen crossed on 50 minutes before Johan Goosen scored a brace of tries for a Dan Carter-less Racing XV, coming in the 52nd and 61st minute, to leave the home outfit stunned.

Trailing 28-13, Bordeaux-Bègles did fight back late on and were rewarded with a penalty try in the 74th minute, which made it an eight-point deficit, but Racing held on for a victory on the road.

The scorers:

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Talebula, Penalty Try
Con: Beauxis, Bernard
Pen: Beauxis 2

For Racing 92:
Tries: Claassen, Goosen 2
Con: Goosen 2
Pen: Goosen 3

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Jean-Marcelin Buttin, 14 Metuisela Talebula, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Julien Rey, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Louis-Benoît Madaule, 5 Berend Botha, 4 Julien Ledevedec, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 
16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Sébastien Taofifenua, 18 Cyril Cazeaux, 19 Loann Goujon, 20 Baptiste Serin, 21 Pierre Bernard, 22 Felix le Bourhis, 23 Jean-Baptiste Poux

Racing 92: 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Sean Robinson, 13 Joe Rokocoko, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Albert Vulivuli, 10 Rémi Talès, 9 Xavier Chauveau, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 
16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Khatchik Vartanov, 18 Thibault Dubarry, 19 Bernard le Roux, 20 Arthur Retiere, 21 Etienne Dussartre, 22 Benjamin Dambielle, 23 Luc Ducalcon

Referee: Cedric Marchat