Top 14: Table blown open on weekend of upsets

La Rochelle were the winners of week 20 of the Top 14, with their routine 41-15 win over Brive seeing them up to sixth and knocking Toulouse out of the play-off positions.

On a weekend when the formbook was thoroughly trampled upon, the only other team to beat opposition lower in the table was Toulon, who cantered away in the final quarter to beat Biarritz 45-17 and almost certainly doom the latter to relegation.

All the top teams lose

Otherwise the top trio of Union Bordeaux Begles, Lyon and Montpellier all lost – Montpellier at fourth-placed Castres, while Racing 92 in fifth were thrashed by a resurgent Perpignan.

Brive’s coaches rotated a lot of starters for the trip to the west coast, reasoning that this particular game was not one that was a must-win when it comes to maintaining Top 14 status, especially after three positive results had lifted them away from immediate danger, and it showed.

La Rochelle ran in five first-half tries, recovering from going 3-0 down to lead 35-3 at the break. The second half was dire from both sides, although Brive did scrap over two tries during the course of it, but the bonus-point win lifted La Rochelle into sixth, temporarily at least.

That became permanent on Sunday, when Toulouse once again contrived to lose in the last minute to Stade Francais.

If the game-clinching moment was the searing break after the siren by Ngani Laumape, finished off by Kylan Hamdaoui, the defining period of the game was more the first ten minutes, after which Toulouse were 10-0 down. Laumape set up a try then as well, finished off by Waisea Nayacalevu.

In between the game was a fierce battle which Toulouse probably shaded but could not find the accuracy or discipline to win. The line-out especially was a problem – although their lone try just before half-time came from a good driving maul finished off by Guillaume Cramont.

But the defeat leaves coach Ugo Mola needing his internationals to get over any fatigue quickly after the Six Nations, as Toulouse fell to seventh and out of the top six for the first time this season.

The Toulousains are not the only ones feeling the heat of the long season and the absence of the internationals. Union Bordeaux Begles are amazingly still top, despite their fourth defeat in a row, this one 23-16 at home to Pau.

Little went right for the home team. Even before the game they were hit by a blow when fly-half Mathieu Jalibert suffered a relapse of the irksome hamstring injury which has kept him out for the past month – and which later saw him withdrawn from the France squad for the games against Wales and England.

“Our heads dropped,” said coach Christophe Urios about the team’s reaction to Jalibert pulling up. by a vicious twist of irony, Jalibert’s replacement in the France squad was Saturday’s opposite number Antoine Hastoy, who pulled all the strings in Pau’s display, including a twinkle-toed break that led to the game’s opening try for wing Mathias Colombet.

Pau had to weather their own problems too, with Colombet stretchered off a few minutes later after a clash of heads which yielded his third concussion of the season – and thus a mandatory three-month lay-off.

But they finished the game far stronger. at 13-5 down early in the second half following a try for Bordeaux’s Remi Lamerat and a penalty from Francois Trinh-Duc, Pau’s forwards claimed the upper hand and a try from Tumua Manu, backed up by kicks from Clovis Le Bail had the game tied at 16-16 with ten to go.

Bordeaux pressed, but in the final minute Le Bail cut through a lazy fringe defence and fed Hastoy for the clincher.

Montpellier could have gone top, but lost for the first time after ten straight wins, a comprehensive 25-9 defeat at Castres. It was not the strongest Montpellier team but it ought to have done better than it did, against 14 men for just over half of the game after centre Vilimoni Botitu was sent off for an ugly high tackle.

But Castres charged out of the dressing room after half time and scored two quickfire tries – the second a youtubeable back flip from Thomas Combezou – to settle the game, which petered out after.

Lyon could also have gone top, but they contrived to lose in Clermont after leading 16-15 with three minutes to go.

First Morgan Parra nailed a penalty to give Clermont the lead, then fly-half Leo Berdeu fumbled a long kick on his own tryline, allowing Jean-Pascal Barraque the easiest of finishes. Parra’s conversion added insult to injury, denying Lyon even a losing bonus point at 25-16.

Perpignan’s obliteration of Racing was marked by purple patches at the end of each half, in a hugely entertaining game of rugby.

Two tries in three minutes at the end of the first half, from Mamea Lemalu and Bautista Delguy, saw the home side 17-6 ahead at the break, but Racing clung on, and at 20-13 with ten to go, looked eminently capable of creating a big finale.

That only came from the home team however, with George Tilsley and Joaquin Oviedo scoring tries within five minutes of each other to heave Perpignan away from Biarritz at the bottom of the table.

Biarritz’s chances of maintaining Top 14 status evaporated within the final quarter of a combative match at home to fellow strugglers Toulon. Tomas Cubelli’s try early in the second half had the Biarrots in touching distance, but Louis Carbonel, then Jules Danglot, and then a penalty try in the final 15 minutes gave Toulon not only the win but also a bonus point.

Biarritz’s Top 14 goose is cooked, with President Jean-Baptise Aldige admitting after the match “we have both feet in Pro D2 now,” while Perpignan, Toulon and Brive continue to scrap over the remaining relegation spot. Perpignan host Brive on April 30; what a game that might be!