Toulouse thrash Stade, UBB too strong for Perpignan

Editor

Toulouse consolidated second spot on the table when they thrashed Stade Francais while Bordeaux-Begles proved too strong for Perpignan on Sunday.

Results

Sunday
Perpignan 11-22 Bordeaux-Bègles
Toulouse 49-20 Stade Francais

Perpignan 11-22 Bordeaux-Bègles
Stade Aime Giral

The visitors were made to work hard but got the job done and they eventually outscored Perpignan by three tries to one with Romain Buros leading the way with a deserved brace.

The result moves UBB into the play-off positions on the Top 14 table. They are now in sixth place, one spot above defending champions Castres.

The opening exchanges were closely fought although the hosts drew first blood via a Karl Chateau try midway through the first-half. This, after they took the ball through some phases deep inside the visitors’ half before Chateau crashed over from close quarters.

The rest of the half was an arm wrestle although UBB drew level in spectacular fashion courtesy of Buros’ first try. Nans Ducuing did brilliantly in the build-up when he launched an attack from 60 metres out before offloading to Buros, who rounded off. Brock James added the extras which gave Bordeaux-Bègles a 7-5 lead at half-time.

The second-half was similar to the first with both sides battling to gain the ascendancy but UBB extended their lead on the hour-mark when Buros crossed for his second try after gathering a pass from Alexandre Roumat.

James was successful with the conversion before Enzo Selponi cancelled that effort out with a penalty of his own in the 68th minute.

James added another penalty in the 71st minute which gave his side a 17-8 lead, but the visitors reduced the deficit via another three-pointer off the kicking tee from Selponi shortly afterwards.

UBB finished stronger, however, and sealed their win when Baptiste Serin crossed for their third try in the game’s losing stages.

The scorers:

For Perpignan:
Try: Chateau
Pens: Selponi 2

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Buros 2, Serin
Cons: James 2
Pen: James

Perpignan: 15 Julien Farnoux, 14 Pierre Lucas, 13 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 12 Adrea Cocagi, 11 Mathieu Acebes, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 David Mélé, 8 Genesis Mamea, 7 Alan Brazo, 6 Tristan Labouteley, 5 Berend Botha, 4 Karl Chateau, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Seilala Lam, 1 Yassine Boutemane
Replacements: 16 Raphael Carbou, 17 Quentin Walker, 18 Yohan Vivalda, 19 Shahn Eru, 20 Tom Ecochard, 21 Sione Piukala, 22 Enzo Selponi, 23 Sylvain Charlet

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Blair Connor, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 11 Romain Buros, 10 Brock James, 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Cameron Woki, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Jandré Marais, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Thierry Paiva
Replacements: 16 Adrien Pélissié, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Cyril Cazeaux, 19 Beka Gorgadze, 20 Baptiste Serin, 21 Lucas Meret, 22 Eto Nabuli, 23 Lasha Tabidze

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona, Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure

Toulouse 49-20 Stade Francais
Stade Ernest-Wallon

Toulouse delivered a clinical performance in front of their home crowd and outscored Stade Francais by six tries to two to claim a deserved win.

Stade were the architects of their own downfall as their discipline let them down and four of their players received yellow cards during this match.

Toulouse were fastest out of the blocks and in the fifth minute Yoann Huget burst through a tackle inside Stade Francais’ 22 before crossing for the opening try.

The visitors did not take long to respond, however, and five minutes later they drew level via a try from Sekou Macalou.

Jules Plisson slotted the conversion which gave Stade a 7-5 lead but Toulouse regained the lead when Thomas Ramos slotted a penalty in the 14th minute.

Four minutes later, the visitors were reduced to 14 men for the first time when Paul Gabrillagues was punished for a cynical defensive foul.

Ramos was successful with the resulting penalty and added another three-pointer off the kicking tee shortly afterwards. In the 26th minute, Stephane Clement also received his marching orders for an off-the-ball hit on Ramos and two minutes later Jonathan Danty followed him to the sin-bin for foul play.

With a numerical advantage, it was only a matter of time before Toulouse would go further ahead and that came on the hour-mark when Julien Marchand scored the home side’s second try with Ramos adding the extras.

Plisson added a penalty in the 34th minute which meant Toulouse were leading 21-10 at half-time.

Stade narrowed the gap courtesy of another Plisson penalty in the 48th minute but Toulouse regained the initiative in shortly afterwards when Joe Tekori offloaded to Huget, who went over for his second try.

On the hour-mark, Stade were reduced to 14 men again when Macalou deliberately collapsed a maul and Toulouse made full use of their numerical advantage with Romain Ntamack and François Cros also crossing the whitewash during Macalou’s stint on the sidelines.

In the 70th minute, Toulouse also had a man sent to the sin-bin – Peato Mauvaka the guilty party after a dangerous tackle on Djibril Camara. But despite that infringement they continued to attack and were rewarded when Maxime Mermoz crossed for their sixth try.

With the game in the bag, Toulouse took their foot off the pedal which allowed Hanro Liebenberg to score a consolation try for the visitors in the game’s dying moments.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Tries: Huget 2, Marchand, Ntamack, Cros, Mermoz
Cons: Ramos 5
Pens: Ramos 3
Yellow Card: Mauvaka

For Stade Francais:
Tries: Macalou, Liebenberg
Cons: Plisson 2
Pens: Plisson 2
Yellow Cards: Gabrillagues, Clement, Danty, Macalou

Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Romain Ntamack, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Antoine Dupont, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 François Cros, 7 Rynhard Elstadt, 6 Alban Placines, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Clement Castets
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Carl Axtens, 19 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 20 Gillian Galan, 21 Maxime Mermoz, 22 Arthur Bonneval, 23 Maks van Dyk

Stade Francais: 15 Kylan Hamdaoui, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Talalelei Gray, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Giorgi Melikidze, 2 Laurent Sempere, 1 Stephane Clement
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi, 18 Mathieu De Giovanni, 19 Hanro Liebenberg, 20 Clement Daguin, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Tony Ensor, 23 Lucas Da Silva

Referee: Cyril Lafon
Assistant referees: Adrien Descottes, Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin