Top 14 Wrap: Round 21
Montauban were the big winners of Round 21 as they ended Perpignan's eight-game winning streak.
Montauban were the big winners of Round 21 as they ended Perpignan's eight-game winning streak.
Clermont came out on top in their showdown with Biarritz to record their first ever win on the Basque coast. Biarritz slipped to sixth spot on the table after Castres impressively beat Brive with a bonus point while Montpellier were shock winners over Toulouse.
With both Dax and Albi going down to heavy defeats, the race to avoid relegation will resume next week.
Results
Biarritz 11 – 16 Clermont
Stade Français 43-20 Albi
Auch 19-23 Bayonne
Montauban 28 – 22 Perpignan
Bourgoin 50 – 14 Dax
Montpellier 17- 15 Toulouse
Castres 41 -10 Brive
Table after Round 21
1 Clermont Auvergne 81
2 Stade Toulousain 75
3 Stade Français 69
4 Perpignan 62
5 Castres Olympique 56
6 Biarritz Olympique 54
7 Montauban 50
8 Montpellier 44
9 Bourgoin43
10 Bayonne 43
11 Brive 37
12 Albi 36
13 Dax 30
14 Auch 15
“This match is a reflection of our season,” Biarritz assistant coach Jacques Delmas said after the match. And how true his statement is. If you looked at the numbers, Biarritz didn't have a bad game.
The statistics show that they were on top in the line-outs and scrums, conceded fewer penalties than Clermont and had more than enough territory and possession. Those are great numbers, but the numbers that count i.e. the result printed in black and white in newspapers on Saturday morning, are less than good as BO went down to their third consecutive defeat.
So where's it all going wrong for the Basque (former) giants? It's not a lack of effort. On the contrary, when it comes to the crunch the men in red and white sometimes try too hard, getting hot under the collar when it's time to finish off a move, and inevitably fluffing it.
Good bye to the semi-finals for Biarritz then. The French press are speaking of the 'end of a cycle', and despite what they say on the south-west coast, that analysis seems to be spot on. A week's preparation behind closed doors seems to have only put more pressure on the players and the home crowd's whistles in the last twenty minutes didn't help much either.
And what of Clermont. Shocked out of the complacency that saw then go down to Castres last week, Clermont showed what a complete team they are. Their campaign for a first Top 14 title is still on track. A suspected torn thigh muscle to scrum-half Pierre Mignoni is, however, very bad news.
Stade Français 43-20 Albi
That makes seven in a row for Stade Français. Under the warm spring sunshine the Parisians were easy winners, but no one expected any less.
Tries from Guillaume Boussès, Djibril Camara saw the hosts 26-3 up at half time, but the Parisians were unable to duplicate some stunning running rugby in the second-half. A bunch of handling errors allowed Albi to score three tries and hence the hosts lost out on a bonus point.
Against an under-strength Albi side, Juan Martin Hernandez was once again the star for the Parisian side scoring 28 points, including a try, and showing off with a few extravagant, yet brilliant passes.
Despite the defeat, Albi will leave the capital fairly happy. They never expected to win the game, choosing rather to concentrate on picking up points in their relegation battle against Auch next week. Scoring three tries at Jean-Bouin equals an encouraging result.
Auch 19-23 Bayonne
A very frustrating day for Auch who lead for most of the match. Ahead 10-3 to half-time the hosts came within 13 minutes of a rare victory.
Bayonne, lead as usual by Richard Dourthe, will breath a huge sigh of relief. Their second win in a row (after five consecutive defeats) should guarantee them a place in the Top 14 next season.
Despite competing well for the ball and dominating their visitors in terms of possession, Auch were a little too expansive for their own good. Bayonne came out in the second-half and did the basics right with a Mickaël Lopèz try under the posts sealing a close-fought victory for the Basques.
Montauban 28 – 22 Perpignan
Another big club bites the dust at Sapiac. On cloud nine and undefeated in ten games, Perpignan forgot to take their wings to Montauban.
The Catalans were given a cold welcome when Fabien Fortassin dropped Montauban into the lead after just ten seconds! His effort is a new Top 14 record.
Perpignan fly-half Nicolas Laharrague kicked a drop of his own as the teams exchanged three-pointers until the break with Springbok full-back Percy Montgomery weighing in with a penalty for the visitors.
Montauban led 15-9 when the teams swapped ends. Perpignan came out firing and dominated the opening minutes of the second-half with Henry Tuilagi crashing over and Laharrague kicking a third drop.
The hosts came back strongly in the last quarter however with a try from Argentinean prop Pablo Henn putting Montauban ahead before Fortassin sealed the deal.
If only Montauban could reproduce the same kind of form away from home. This result takes them a step closer to Heineken Cup qualification and keeps the pressure on Castres.
Bourgoin 50 – 14 US Dax
A week after an encouraging – if unsuccessful – trip to Paris, Bourgoin confrimed their good form with a 36-point drubbing of Dax. Authors of no less than six tries les Berjalliens kept their slim hopes for European qualification alive with a bonus point.
After five games without a win, this is just the kind of morale-boosting win Bourgoin needed.
Dax went down to their fifteenth loss of the season, not that it changes much because with Albi losing in Paris, their six-point deficit is still intact.
Montpellier 17- 15 Toulouse
Toulouse crashed to another Top 14 defeat at Montpellier on Sunday, going down 17-15 after a desperate first 50 minutes saw them 17-3 adrift.
Early tries by international back-rowers Fulgence Ouedraogo and Louis Picamoles had Montpellier 12-0 in the lead after just 7 minutes, and another by debutant winger Manuel Dall'Igna just after the break – crafted by international fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc – made the score 17-3.
Toulouse rallied, and two tries from Yves Donguy and Shaun Sowerby pulled them back to 17-15, setting up a frantic final ten minutes. but Montpellier held out.
Castres 41 -10 Brive
Castres were impressive 41-10 winners over Brive, with the hosts scoring five tries through Mathieu Bourret with two, Anthony Lagardere, Gerhard Vosloo, and Luc Ducalcon.
Castres thus keep the pressure on Perpignan in fifth spot.