There were two draws in the Top 14 as a late try completed a comeback for Oyonnax against Clermont whilst Brive and Bordeaux-Bègles also tied.
La Rochelle demolished Pau and there was a much needed win for Agen over Stade Français, this after the early game saw Castres prevail.
Results
Castres 20-19 Toulon
Oyonnax 32-32 Clermont Auvergne
Agen 29-13 Stade Français
Bordeaux Bègles 27-27 Brive
La Rochelle 44-14 Pau
Oyonnax 32-32 Clermont Auvergne
Stade Charles-Mathon
A late Axel Muler try secured a monumental second-half fightback by Oyonnax as they fought back to get a draw against Clermont.
The outfit from the Auvergne scored four first-half tries in a comprehensive display that saw Wesley Fofana, Peter Betham and Nick Abendanon cross before the home side could bother the visitors try line. Quentin Etienne Lecoq pulled the hosts back into it shortly before half time but that hope appeared to be quashed three minutes later when Alivereti Raka dotted down as the clock headed into the red.
Oyonnax notched the first points of the second period when the reliable Ben Botica kicked his second penalty of the day. He went on to notch a further four penalties in the second-half as well as kicking the conversion for Muler’s try three minutes before the end.
The scorers:
For Oyonnax:
Tries: Etienne Lecoq, Muler
Cons: Botica 2
Pens: Botica 6
For Clermont:
Tries: Fofana, Betham, Abendanon, Raka
Cons: Parra 3
Pens: Parra 2
Oyonnax: 15 Quentin Etienne Lecoq, 14 Ulupano Seuteni, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Matt Hooper, 11 Daniel Ikpefan, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Jeremy Gondrand, 8 Rory Grice, 7 Valentin Ursache, 6 Patrick Sobela, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Phoenix Battye, 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Hikawera Elliot, 1 Khatick Vartanov
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Bilel Taieb, 19 Vili Ma’afu, 20 James Hall, 21 Axel Muler, 22 Roimata Hansell-Pune, 23 Pietro Ceccarelli
Clermont: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Nick Abendanon, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Camille Gerondeau, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 John Ulugia
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Beqa Kakabadze, 18 Maxence Barjaud, 19 Julien Ruaud, 20 Charly Trussardi, 21 Aurelien Rougerie, 22 Remy Grosso, 23 Sipili Falatea
Referee: Sébastien Minery
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini, Éric Soulan
TMO: Patrick Dellac
Agen 29-13 Stade Français
Stade Armandie
Agen secured a much needed win to pull them away from the basement battle at the foot of table and close to within four points of their Parisian opponents.
It was Stade Français who scored the first points of the day when Jules Plisson notched two penalties before Jake McIntyre hit back for the hosts. Julien Arias crossed after a quarter of an hour which allowed Plisson to convert and create a 16-3 lead. Arias’ try though proved to be the last points Stade would score all evening.
Facundo Bosch went over after half an hour before wing Filipo Nakosi crossed twice, the latter of which was converted by McIntyre. The fly-half in the meantime kicked a further three penalties to take his total for the day to 14 points and earn the home side just their third win of the year.
The scorers:
For Agen:
Tries: Bosch, Nakosi 2
Con: McIntyre
Pens: McIntyre 4
For Stade Français:
Try: Arias
Con: Plisson
Pens: Plisson 2
Agen: 15 Clement Laporte, 14 George Tilsley, 13 Julien Heriteau, 12 Pierre Fouyssac, 11 Filipo Nakosi, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Antoine Erbani, 7 Yoan Tanga, 6 Antoine Miquel, 5 Denis Marchois, 4 Tom Murday, 3 Arthur Joly, 2 Facundo Bosch, 1 Quentin Bethune
Replacements: 16 Paula Ngauamo, 17 Morgan Phelipponneau, 18 Marco Kotze, 19 Vincent Farre, 20 Hugo Verdu, 21 Mathieu Lamoulie, 22 Johann Sadie, 23 Dave Ryan
Stade Français: 15 Tony Ensor, 14 Romain Martial, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Arthur Colville, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Mathieu Ugena, 6 Hugh Pyle, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Maxime Gau, 1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Mathieu De Giovanni, 19 Bakary Meite, 20 Terry Bouhraoua, 21 Shane Geraghty, 22 Jimmy Yobo, 23 Ramiro Herrera
Referee: Thomas Charabas
Assistant referees: Cédric Clave, Thierry Guilloton
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure
Bordeaux-Bègles 27-27 Brive
Stade Chaban-Delmas
A thoroughly entertaining contest in Bordeaux went down to the wire but ended all square.
The visitors will feel frustrated given how they outscored the hosts on the try count but missed conversions coupled with the methodical boot of Matthieu Jalibert meant the contest could not be separated.
Yann Lesgourgues crossed for Bordeaux with just a minute on the clock but Brive full-back Benjamin Lapeyre scored twice in the space of three minutes to turn the contest in Brive’s favour. However Leroy Houston soon hit back for the hosts before Benito Masilevu scored for the visitors.
Two minutes into the second period and Arnaud Mignardi put Brive three points ahead. It then became a contest involving the boot with Jalibert levelling the contest. Gaetan Germain came off the Brive bench to put them ahead with 12 minutes left but just four minutes later Jalibert kicked his fifth penalty of the day to level the contest.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Lesgourgues, Houston
Con: Jalibert
Pens: Jalibert 5
For Brive:
Tries: Lapeyre 2, Masilevu, Mignardi
Cons: Marques 2
Pen: Germain
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Metuisela Talebula, 14 Ed Fidow, 13 Jean-Baptiste Dubie, 12 Apisai Naqalevu, 11 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Loann Goujon, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Jandra Marais, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Adrien Pelissie, 1 Peni Ravai
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Thierry Paiva, 18 Johan Aliouat, 19 Cameron Woki, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Jules Gimbert, 22 Pablo Uberti, 23 Jean-Baptiste Poux
Brive: 15 Thomas Laranjeira, 14 Benjamin Lapeyre, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Sevenaia Galala, 11 Benito Masilevu, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Etienne Herjean, 7 Poutasi Luafutu, 6 Said Hireche, 5 Peet Marais, 4 Julien Ledevedec, 3 James Johnston, 2 Thomas Acquier, 1 Naama Leleimalefaga
Replacements: 16 Francois Da Ros, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Sisa Koyamaibole, 20 Florian Cazenave, 21 Felix Le Bourhis, 22 Gaetan Germain, 23 Damien Jourdain
Referee: Cédric Marchat
Assistant referees: Nicolas Datas, Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Mourad Zitouni
La Rochelle 44-14 Pau
Stade Marcel-Deflandre
La Rochelle closed to within two points of table-toppers Montpellier who play on Sunday as they secured a bonus point victory over a lacklustre Pau side.
Three unanswered first-half tries, all converted by fly-half Brock James, along with a further penalty from the former Clermont man gave the home side a commanding lead at the interval. First Pierre Aguillon crossed after 10 minutes before Victor Vito and full-back Vincent Rattez also got in on the act.
Three penalties, two from Tom Taylor and one from compatriot Colin Slade was all the visitors had to show from the opening 40. After the break the home onslaught continued as Rattez grabbed a second before Jason Eaton scored their fifth of the evening.
Eaton’s fellow New Zealander Conrad Smith had dotted down shortly after Rattez’s second but it was worth little. With the clock in the red centre Paul Jordaan scored the home side’s sixth of a comprehensive display that further legitimises their credentials this term.
The scorers:
For La Rochelle:
Tries: Aguillon, Vito, Rattez 2, Eaton, Jordaan
Cons: James 3, Bales
Pens: James 2
For Pau:
Try: Smith
Pens: Taylor 2, Slade
La Rochelle: 15 Vincent Rattez, 14 Steeve Barry, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Pierre Aguillon, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Brock James, 9 Alexi Bales, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Zeno Kieft, 6 Jason Eaton, 5 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 4 Thomas Jolmes, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Jeremie Mauroiard, 1 Mike Corbel
Replacements: 16 Hikario Forbes, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Romain Sazy, 19 Gregory Lamboley, 20 Romaric Camou, 21 Jeremy Sinzelle, 22 Pierre Boudehent, 23 David Fe’ao
Pau: 15 Colin Slade, 14 Bastien Pourailly, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Florian Nicot, 11 Julien Fumat, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Dave Foley, 3 Malik Hamadache, 2 Quentin Lesoiaucq, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 Laurent Bouchet, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Fabrice Metz, 19 Martin Puech, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Benson Stanley, 22 Frank Halai, 23 Lourens Adriaanse
Referee: Maxime Chalon
Assistant referees: Pierre-Baptiste Nuchy, Arnaud Blondel
TMO: Éric Briquet Campin
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