Top 14 Wrap: Lyon beat Toulouse, Stade hold off Castres
Stade Français claimed a vital win over Castres at Stade Jean-Bouin while Lyon got the better of Toulouse at Stade Ernest-Wallon on Sunday.
Stade Français 23-17 Castres
Stade Jean-Bouin
Stade Français eased their relegation worries when they claimed a crucial 23-17 victory over Castres at Stade Jean-Bouin.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a tight affair and although both sides scored two tries apiece, it was the boot of Morne Steyn which proved the difference in the end as he finished with a 13-point haul courtesy of two penalties, two conversions and a drop goal.
Stade Français were dealt a blow early on when their captain, Alexandre Flanquart, was yellow carded for knocking referee Alexandre Ruiz to the ground but despite that setback, they opened the scoring via a Hugh Pyle try in the 13th minute.
In the 27th minute, Julien Dumora was also sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul and Steyn slotted the resulting penalty before Castres replied with a Benjamin Urdapilleta penalty.
And just before half-time Maama Vaipulu scored the visitors' first try, which Urdapilleta converted, which meant the sides were deadlocked at 10-10 at half-time.
Steyn added a penalty and a drop-goal before a Waisea Nayacalevu try gave Stade a 23-10 lead by the 64th minute.
Castres finished stronger and narrowed the gap when Rory Kockott crossed the whitewash in the 68th minute but despite spending large parts of the game's closing stages in Stade's 22, the hosts held on for the win.
The scorers:
For Stade Français:
Tries: Pyle, Nayacalevu
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Steyn 2
Drop goal: Steyn
Yellow Card: Flanquart
For Castres:
Tries: Vaipulu, Kockott
Cons: Urdapilleta 2
Pen: Urdapilleta
Yellow Card: Dumora
Stade Français: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Marvin O'Connor, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Clement Daguin, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Hugh Pyle, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Mathieu De Giovanni, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Laurent Sempere, 1 Heinke van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Remy Bonfils, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Dan Tuohy, 19 Sekou Macalou, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Jules Plisson, 22 Jimmy Yobo, 23 Paul Alo-Emile
Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Armand Batlle, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Victor Moreaux, 19 Alex Tulou, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Robert Ebersohn, 22 Steve Mafi, 23 Eric Sione
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant referees: Julien Castaignede, Jacques De Lemos
TMO: Mourad Zitouni
Toulouse 20-27 Lyon
Stade Ernest-Wallon
Lyon moved into sixth position on the Top 14 table after securing a hard-fought 27-20 win over Toulouse at Stade Ernest-Wallon.
In an entertaining encounter, Lyon were under the cosh for large periods but after trailing Toulouse 14-3 at half-time, they launched a stunning second-half fightback and eventually outscored their hosts three tries to two.
Toulouse made a superb start and after Yoann Huget scored their opening try in the ninth minute, they pulled further ahead on the half-hour mark when Cyril Baille crossed for their second five-pointer.
Thomas Ramos converted both those tries before Frédéric Michalak slotted a penalty on the stroke of half-time which meant Toulouse led 14-3 when the teams changed sides at the break.
There was little interesting to report during the first 20 minutes of the second half but the game came alive on the hour-mark when Toby Arnold scored Lyon's second try and two minutes later, the visitors took the lead when Delon Armitage dotted down.
Mike Harris kicked both conversions before Ramos added two penalties which gave Toulouse a 20-17 lead by the 73rd minute. Another Harris penalty shortly afterwards meant the sides were level again at 20-20 before Armitage crossed for the match-winning try in the 77th minute.
The scorers:
For Toulouse:
Tries: Huget, Baille
Cons: Ramos 2
Pens: Ramos 2
For Lyon:
Tries: Arnold, Armitage 2
Cons: Harris 3
Pens: Michalak, Harris
Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Yann David, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Carl Axtens, 7 Talalelei Gray, 6 François Cros, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 20 Selevasio Tolofua, 21 Sofiane Guitoune, 22 Anthony Meric, 23 Maks van Dyk
Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Toby Arnold, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Thibault Regard, 11 Delon Armitage, 10 Mike Harris, 9 Frédéric Michalak, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Julien Puricelli, 5 Etienne Oosthuizen, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Albertus Buckle
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Stephane Clement, 18 Hendrik Roodt, 19 Dylan Cretin, 20 Jonathan Pélissié, 21 Theo Belan, 22 Xavier Mignot, 23 Clement Ric
Referee: Tual Trainini
Assistant referees: Nicolas Datas, Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Eric Gonthier