Top 14: Montpellier go top as Toulon crisis deepens

Lawrence Nolan

There were two Top 14 matches at the weekend, both with significant ramifications at the ends of the table.

Montpellier took over at the top from Union Bordeaux-Begles, with an 18-16 win at home to Toulon which was closer than it needed to be.

Biblical rain

It was played in a downpour of biblical proportions and it was not pretty. As Montpellier full-back Anthony Bouthier put it when asked about the game: “If I had fun tonight? To be honest, not really, especially not at full-back!

“At half-time, we changed everything: the jerseys, the lycra, the socks, and even the boots!

“But the result is there and that’s the most important. In these conditions, we must ignore the rain because if we think about it too much, we will make mistakes or lose our position.

“It was a special match but one that we were able to win. Tonight we are leaders but Bordeaux play tomorrow night so it doesn’t mean much.

Montpellier’s dominance was capitalised upon by the boot of fly-half Louis Foursans-Bourdette who stretched the home side’s lead to 18-9 before Bouthier kicked the ball out of Baptiste Serin’s hands over the try-line and conceded a penalty try.

Toulon had a long shot to win the game after winning a penalty at the final scrum, but Thomas Salan saw his 50 metre kick slightly right and short, with the loudest cheer of the night ensuing. Toulon are now almost out of games in hand over Perpignan and Brive, and are still very much a part of the three-way scrap to avoid an unsightly drop into Pro D2.

Bordeaux did indeed play the following night and had a chance to reclaim top spot, but it was never likely to be an easy task at Clermont, about whose pack Midi-Olympique had run a story earlier in the week heralding the return of the ‘beast with 16 legs’.

It was evidently hampered by its many legs early on the in the match, with a highly instagrammable through-the-legs pass giving Bordeaux full-back Louis Bielle-Biarry a canter in for the opening try and an 11-3 lead after the opening quarter.

Another flowing move led to another try five minutes later, this for Mahamadou Diaby after a sharp back-line move from the half-way line, but with both conversions missed and Clermont keeping the scoreboard ticking, a 16-9 half-time lead looked more slender than it might have been.

So it proved. Alivereti Raka took advantage of a huge gap in Bordeaux’s defence to bring his team level. Clermont then got the better share of three penalties for a 22-19 lead and then, with ten minutes to go, the beast got hungry.

A monster scrum effort yielded a penalty try and made the game safe for the home side, although Remi Lamerat’s score with four minutes to go made for a tetchy finish.

UBB’s bonus point was no consolation for losing the fifth game on the bounce and losing top spot for the first time this year, while Clermont’s push for European qualification was done no harm at all.