There were victories for Castres, Montpellier, Pau and Bordeaux-Bègles in the Top 14 on Saturday, this after Clermont’s win in the early match.
Results
Clermont 39-18 Lyon
Castres 31-15 La Rochelle
Montpellier 32-22 Toulouse
Pau 34-15 Brive
Bordeaux-Bègles 33-23 Agen
Castres 31-15 La Rochelle
The home side hit two quick-fire tries early on courtesy of Julien Dumora and David Smith, with both efforts converted by the reliable boot of Benjamin Urdapilleta.
Brock James slotted a penalty for La Rochelle’s first points, but Castres hit back immediately, Thomas Combezou dotting down to give his side a 21-3 lead at half time.
La Rochelle’s first try came just after half time, inside centre Pierre Boudehent providing the breakthrough. The visitors were back to within a score with 15 minutes to go thanks to a try from Steeve Barry.
Urdapilleta’s 70th minute drop-goal took the deficit back to nine points. And the home side secured their fourth try and the win right at the death, Smith with his second of the night to cap a comfortable win for Castres.
The scorers:
For Castres:
Tries: Dumora, Smith 2, Combezou
Cons: Urdapilleta 3, Le Bourhis
Drop Goal: Urdapilleta
Yellow Cards: Capo, Babillot, Jenneker
For La Rochelle:
Tries: Boudehent, Barry
Con: James
Pen: James
Yellow Card: Lamboley
Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Armand Batlle, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Victor Moreaux, 7 Mathieu Babillo, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Yohann Montes, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Loic Jacquet, 19 Baptiste Delaporte, 20 Alexandre Bias, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 23 Damien Tussac
La Rochelle: 15 Vincent Rattez, 14 Jeremy Sinzelle, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Pierre Boudehent, 11 Elliot Roudil, 10 Brock James, 9 Alexis Bales, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Zeno Kieft, 6 Jason Eaton, 5 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Mike Corbel
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Romaric Camou, 21 Pierre Aguillon, 22 Steeve Barry, 23 Vincent Pelo
Montpellier 32-22 Toulouse
Vern Cotter’s men were slow off the mark, Toulouse’s Zack Holmes slotting two early penalties to give his side an early 6-0 advantage on the road.
Montpellier eventually found their feet, Benoit Paillaugue’s penalty bringing them back to within a score.
The home side continued to build momentum, Jan Serfontein and Gabriel Ngandebe both dotting down.
But two further Holmes penalties kept Toulouse within five points at half time.
Montpellier extended their lead after the break with a Jesse Mogg try, but Holmes kept the Toulouse scoreboard ticking over with his fifth penalty of the evening.
Toulouse’s task was made harder at the beginning of the second half when they were reduced to 13 men, two quick fire yellow cards for Clements Castets and Joe Tekori.
After a second Paillaugue penalty extended the lead, Toulouse hit back with a try from replacement Maks Van Dyk.
Montpellier responded almost immediately, Joe Tomane securing the bonus point try for the hosts. This proved to be the final score, with the win meaning that Montpellier leapfrog Lyon to the summit of the Top 14.
The scorers:
For Montpellier:
Tries: Serfontein, Ngandebe, Mogg, Tomane
Cons: Paillaugue 3
Pens: Paillaugue 2
For Toulouse:
Try: Van Dyk
Con: Holmes
Pens: Holmes 5
Yellow Cards: Castets, Tekori
Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Joseph Tomane, 13 Francois Steyn, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Gabriel Ngandebe, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Kelian Galletier, 7 Wian Liebenberg, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Johannes Jonker, 2 Romain Ruffenach, 1 Yvan Watremez
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Gregory Fichten, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Enzo Sanga, 21 Alexandre Dumoulin, 22 Henry Immelman, 23 Mohammed Haouas
Toulouse: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Wandie Mjekevu, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Zack Holmes, 11 Sofiane Guitoune, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Carl Axtens, 7 François Cros, 6 Rynhard Elstadt, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Clement Castets
Replacements: 16 David Roumieu, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Gillian Galan, 19 Talalelei Gray, 20 Alexandre Manukula, 21 Jarrod Poi, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Maks van Dyk
Pau 34-15 Brive
It was the visitors who struck first in this clash, Gaetan Germain opening the scoring for Brive with a penalty on four minutes.
Pau hit back with three first half tries through Daniel Ramsay, Frank Halai and Quentin Lespiaucq respectively, all three scores converted by Tom Taylor.
However, a try on the buzzer for Samuel Marques kept Brive in touch.
After a flurry of yellow cards either side of half time, Pau secured the bonus point score just before the hour mark with Ramsay grabbing his second of the night.
Brive managed one final consolation score in the dying minutes, Benito Masilevu crossing for the visitors.
The scorers:
For Pau:
Tries: Ramsay 2, Halai, Lespiaucq
Cons: Taylor 4
Pens: Taylor 2
Yellow Cards: Malie, Ramsay, Butler
For Brive:
Tries: Marques, Masilevu
Con: Germain
Pen: Germain
Yellow Cards: Le Bourhis, Masilevu
Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Bastien Pourailly, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Florian Nicot, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 Steffon Armitage, 7 Martin Puech, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Daniel Ramsay, 3 Sylvain Charlet, 2 Quentin Lespiaucq, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Fabrice Metz, 19 Paddy Butler, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Julien Fumat, 23 Lourens Adriaanse
Brive: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Benito Masilevu, 13 Felix Le Bourhis, 12 Benjamin Petre, 11 Guillaume Namy, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Etienne Herjean, 6 Said Hireche, 5 Peet Marais, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Damien Jourdain, 2 Francois Da Ros, 1 Julien Brugnaut
Replacements: 16 Mike Tadjer, 17 Naama Leleimalefaga, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Poutasi Luafutu, 20 Florian Cazenave, 21 Thomas Laranjeira, 22 Sevenaia Galala, 23 James Johnston
Bordeaux-Bègles 33-23 Agen
Both sides came out the blocks firing in the south of France. Two early penalties from Matthieu Jalibert gave Bordeaux-Bègles the lead but a try from Agen’s Clement Laporte kept them within a point.
UBB seized the game by the scruff of the neck, three tries before half time raced them into a 27-5 lead.
Agen hit back after half time with their second try, number eight Antoine Miquel powering over to close the gap.
The visitors’ comeback continued, a Mathieu Lamoulie penalty was quickly followed by a converted try from George Tilsley.
Bordeaux-Bègles’ Marc Clerc was shown red late on for a dangerous tackle, but calm was restored when Metuisela Talebula kicked a crucial three points to take their lead back to seven points.
Talebula added a further three points with a late drop-goal to make the points secure for the home side.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Doubrere, Jalibert, Marais
Cons: Jalibert 3
Pens: Jalibert 2, Talebula
Drop-Goal: Talebula
Red Card: Clerc
For Agen:
Tries: Laporte, Miquel, Tilsley
Con: Verdu
Pens: Lamoulie 2
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Tiaan Schoeman, 14 Ed Fidow, 13 Jean-Baptiste Dubie, 12 Metuisela Talebula, 11 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Gauthier Doubrere, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Loann Goujon, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Jandré Marais, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Adrien Pelissie, 1 Thierry Paiva
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Cyril Cazeaux, 19 Cameron Woki, 20 Jules Gimbert, 21 Pablo Uberti, 22 Apisai Naqalevu, 23 Marc Clerc
Agen: 15 Mathieu Lamoulie, 14 George Tilsley, 13 Julien Heriteau, 12 Pierre Fouyssac, 11 Clement Laporte, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Antoine Miquel, 7 Vincent Farre, 6 Yoan Tanga, 5 Corentin Braendlin, 4 Denis Marchois, 3 Arthur Joly, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Quentin Bethune
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Morgan Phelipponneau, 18 Tom Murday, 19 Antoine Erbani, 20 Hugo Verdu, 21 Jake McIntyre, 22 Johann Sadie, 23 Dave Ryan
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