Top 14 Wrap: Toulouse crush Toulon
Toulouse stormed to the summit of the Top 14 standings on Saturday with crushing 44-5 win over Toulon at Stade Ernest Wallon.
Toulouse stormed to the summit of the Top 14 standings on Saturday with crushing 44-5 win over Toulon at Stade Ernest Wallon.
French champions Clermont put on one of their best displays of the season to score a bonus-point win against Stade Français.
After Racing Métro drew with Perpignan on Friday, Montpellier held onto second in the standings with victory on the road to Bayonne thanks to an impressive second-half performance.
Biarritz had to come from behind to turn the tables on Brive while Agen beat La Rochelle in a crucial battle of the relegation candidates.
As expected, Castres had no troubles in dispatching Bourgoin, leaving les Berjalliens stuck to the bottom of standings.
Results:
Racing Métro 18-18 Perpignan
Clermont 27-3 Stade Français
Bayonne 18-29 Montpellier
Agen 29-14 La Rochelle
Castres 41-24 Bourgoin
Brive 21-27 Biarritz
Toulouse 44-5 Toulon
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Stade Toulousain 44-5 RC Toulon
Stade Ernest Wallon, Toulouse
Can any one stop Toulouse at the moment? In this kind of form, the answer must be 'no'. A bonus point for their six tries sends les Toulousains to the top of the standings.
Missing couple of first-choice players, it was always going to be tough for Toulon, but few expected les Varois to be dominated in such comprehensive fashion.
There was only one team on the park as Toulouse raced to a 25-0 lead by half-time.
Tries for Maxime Medard, Vincent Clerc and Clement Poitrenaud had the hosts cruising and France coach Marc Lièvremeont with plenty to think about after leaving Clerc and Poitrenaud out of his squad on Wednesday.
Prop Yohan Montes extended the lead to 32-0 soon after the break. English centre Tom May pulled a try back for Toulon with dart down the blindside on the hour mark but Toulouse weren't ready to slow down as number eight Louise Picamoles (who also missed out on national selection) charged over.
Medard added his second try with ten minutes left on the clock to cap a dominant display in front of a sell-out crowd.
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ASM Clermont Auvergne 27-3 Stade Français Paris
Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin, Clermont Ferrand
Clermont thoroughly deserve their bonus point, snatched in the 82nd minute, after being in complete control for almost the entire match.
Clermont had they better of the first half, playing some very attractive rugby without much reward to lead 6-0 at the break.
Stade Français' were well organised and aggressive on defence and opened their account in the second period when fly-half Lionel Beauxis slotted a drop goal.
Stade captain Sergio Parisse was sent to the bin for a high tackle on Morgan Parra with half-an-hour to play and the hosts immediately took advantage of the extra man as Julien Malzieu set Parra up to score the game's first try.
Parisse returned just in time to see Aurélien Rougerie break clear to set up hooker Ti'i Paulo for les Jaunards' second try.
It was all-Clermont in the last quarter and they were finally rewarded with the bonus-point third try when Gonzalo Canale touched down after the hooter.
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CA Brive Corrèze 21-27 Biarritz Olympique
Stade Amédée Domenech, Brive
Trailing 21-9 early in the second half, Biarritz made an incredible comeback that coincided with Dimitri Yachvili coming onto the pitch and Brive scrum-half Mathieu Belie being sent to the bin.
Brive were running the show until completely falling apart in the last the last quarter.
The hosts deserved their 14-9 half-time lead as they did most of the paying and were rewarded with try for prop Damien Browne. Biarritz managed to stay in touch thanks to three penalties from Julien Peyrelongue.
They hosts stretched the gap to 21-9 when flank Gerhard Vosloo scored but threw BO a life line when Belie was shown a yellow card for standing on Damien Traille.
Traille, playing at fly-half, reacted by creating a try for centre Arnaud Mignardi and then slotting a drop goal to reduce the gap to 21-19.
Traille was also at the origin of Biarritz's third try, breaking the line to set up number eight Florian Faure. Yachvili added a late penalty to seal the deal.
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Castres Olympique 41-24 CS Bourgoin-Jallieu
Stade Pierre Antoine, Castres
As expected, Castres picked up a bonus points for outscoring their visitors six tries to three.
It was one-way traffic in the first half as Castres raced to a 22-3 half-time lead with three unanswered tries for backs Marc Andreu, Seremaia Bai and Vincent Inigo.
Bourgoin struck back shortly after the break when number eight broke off a 5m scrum to touch down.
Three more tries for in the second half, including one for Chris Masoe (who also earned a yellow card for a late tackle) handed Castres a full house of points, sending them up sixth in the standings.
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Aviron Bayonnais 18-29 Montpellier HR
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
Bayonne slump to their fifth consecutive loss as their early-season winning streak seems a distant memory. Montpellier by contrast continue their run of form to top the standings.
Bayonne enjoyed the lion's share of possession and territory in the first half but gave away to many penalties, allowing Montpellier to stay in the game.
It was all square at 12-all when the teams swapped ends with Bayonne fly-half Benjamin Boyet and Montpellier's Argentine wing Martin Moyano exchanging penalties.
Montpellier stepped it up a gear in the second period and took the lead three minutes after the restart when fly-half François Trinh-Duc broke the line to score under the posts.
Boyet reduced the gap with half-an hour left but Trinh-Duc replied with a drop.
The death blow came in the 80th minute when Montpellier wing Jean-Mathieu Alcalde scored an intercept try. Moyano's conversion denied Bayonne a losing bonus point.
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Aviron Bayonnais 18-29 Montpellier HR
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
Bayonne slump to their fifth consecutive win as their early-season winning streak seems a distant memory. Montpellier by contrast continue their run of form to top the standings.
Bayonne enjoyed the lion's share of possession and territory in the first half but gave away to many penalties, allowing Montpellier to stay in the game.
It was all square at 12-all when the teams swapped ends with Bayonne fly-half Benjamin Boyet and