Top 14 Wrap: Round Seven (part two)
Just like Clermont the day before, Perpignan racked up a bonus-point win on Sunday while Toulouse fell victim to Jonny Wilkinson's boot.
Just like Clermont and Stade Français the day before, Perpignan racked up a bonus-point win on Sunday while Toulouse fell victim to Jonny Wilkinson's boot.
Castres meanwhile ensured a fourth straight defeat for Racing-Metro, winning 9-6 at home, Romain Teulet outshooting former All Black Andrew Mehrtens 3-2 on the penalty count.
In the day's fourth game, Bayonne hammered Montpellier in a mid-table battle.
Results:
Albi 8-40 Clermont
Stade Français 20-6 Bourgoin
Brive 12-15 Biarritz
Sunday, September 20
Castres 9-6 Racing-Métro
Perpignan 28-9 Montauban
Toulon 18-13 Toulouse
Bayonnais 26-3 Montpellier
Standings:
1 Clermont 25
2 Perpignan 22
3 Toulon 20
4 Toulouse 20
5 Biarritz 19
6 Castres 19
7 Stade Français 17
8 Bayonne 15
9 Montauban 15
10 Brive 14
11 Montpellier 12
12 Bourgoin 12
13 Racing-Métro 11
14 Albi 3
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Sunday, September 20
Castres Olympique 9-6 Racing-Metro 92
Stade Pierre Antoine, Castres
In their thrid match of the week, Castres ground out a narrow win in pourring rain.
It took 36 mins for the scorers to be troubled as Romain Teulet put the hosts ahead from the kicking tee. The Tarnais full-back slotted two more
in the second half to cancell out two from Andrew Mehrtens.
Castres coach Laurent Labit said he was happy with a win after three difficult matches.
“We needed a massive effort today, and we came out of it well,” Labit said.
“These types of matches in the rain in these conditions, you have to know how to win them without panicking while sticking to it upfront.”
The result is Rcaings' fifth defeat of the season already, leaving them stuck at the wrong end of the table.
“It's enraging to lose a match like that. We were well in place, ready to deliver a blow, but after 80 minutes we again missed out,” added Racing coach Simon Mannix.
“We made too many mistakes and weren't able to score points when we were dominating.”
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USA Perpignan 28-9 Montauban
Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan
After the shock defeat in Bourgoin last weekend, the defending champions put the train back on the tracks with a bonu-spoint win at home to move up to second place in the standings.
The Catalan's relied heavily on their scrum to grind out the win, scored tries through South African flanker Gerrie Britz, Nicolas Durand and Farid Sid, allied with three penalties and two conversions from Nicolas Laharrague.
Montauban, who made thirteen changes to the side that played on Wednesday, could only manage three penalties in response.
“We took five points and move back into the top three,” said Durand.
“So it's been a good day's work even if we remain somewhat frustrated.
“We're still not carrying things through to full completion but the desire and enthusiasm are still there – that's essential.”
Montauban coach Marc Raynaud was disappointed by the margin of defeat.
“We started the match well and had a good first half. But it's tough to accept certain decisions by the referee which turned the match,” he said.
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RC Toulon 18-13 Stade Toulousain
Stade Vélodrome, Marseilles
England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson kicked all Toulon's points in an impressive win for the Varois.
Wilkinson dominated midfield and kicked three penalties and three drop-goals to justify Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal's decision to relocate to the Velodrome, which was almost filled to its 60,000 capacity.
Frédéric Michalak scored a drop-goal and an intercept try for Toulouse, who failed to turn pressure into points after dominating possession in the first half, with Jean-Baptiste Elissalde booting the rest of the points.
“It's a great feeling to win. The last two weeks have been difficult to take,” said Wilkinson in reference to Toulon's nail-biting 21-20 loss to Montpellier and 21-18 loss to Montauban.
The win sees the club move into joint third place on 20 points with Toulouse.
“It came down to the last minute,” Wilkinson said.
“It was very tight between the two teams. In France, all the teams are very dangerous for the full 80 minutes. We need to work on our capacity to finish off a game.”
He added: “We knew that there was a chance to achieve something special but we were expecting a tough match.
“It was a unique atmosphere and we took a real pleasure from it.
We had to change something after our two consecutive defeats.”
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Aviron Bayonnais 26-3 Montpellier HRC
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
After seeing their match on Friday postponed, Bayonne sent their fans home happy on Sunday with a dominant display.
Two tries from wing Banjamin Fall (his fifth of the season) and hooker Ace Tiatia weren't enough for the bonus point, but the way in which the Basques controlled the match will be reassuring. Benat Arrayet landed three penalties and a conversion while Cédric Garcia added a conversion and a penalty.
Montpellier once again failed to display the same form that have left them undefeated at home on the road.