Five is enough for Pau. Winners of their last five matches, the Béarnais lost to Bayonne (35-16) this Saturday, during the seventh day of the Top 14. One of the four matches which started at 5 p.m. no suspense in Oyonnax, with a card against Lyon (38-20). The locals join their victim of the day in the rankings with this convincing success. Usap took longer to break away against Montpellier (23-16), last in the Top 14, but the kings of suspense of the day were the Toulonnais, who won in Clermont thanks to a try in very end of the match (27-30). The Auvergnats remained on three victories in a row. End of series for the ASM.
Note that Pau’s setback allows Racing 92 to stay in the lead, with the same number of points as its neighbors Stade français (23 pts). Which Racing 92 just happened to win the derby earlier in the day. The Pau Section is third (22 pts) ahead of Castres and Toulon (19 pts).
On an impressive series of five victories and co-leader of the championship before the meeting, the Section has touched ground again. Opposed to Aviron Bayonnais, undefeated on home soil this season, the Palois rowed but never managed to take the score to their advantage in the game. And they were not helped by the injury of full-back Clément Laporte, who came out in the fourth minute, and who is said to have injured his Achilles tendon. Opposite, the Basques recited their rugby, helped by the paw of Camille Lopez author of a 5/6 on the foot. Thanks to their four tries, the Bayonnais took the bonus point and continued their rise in the standings, taking eighth place.
In the Rhône derby, the Oyomen inflicted a real slap on their Lyon opponents. The score at the break sums up the extent of the slap inflicted by the Black and Red: 30 to 3. A gap allowed, in particular, by a double from Millet, in Canes. the Lyonnais tried to react in the second half, but it was not enough, even to hope to win a defensive bonus point. Final result, 38 to 20 for the locals. The Lyonnais must impatiently await the return from vacation of Couilloud and Ollivon.
It was the match you couldn’t lose, and guess what Montpellier did? Saturday afternoon in Catalonia, the USAP and the MHR engaged in a clash of poorly ranked players, the stakes of which could be summed up as follows: death to the vanquished. And despite Montpellier’s opening score, Arthur Vincent’s teammates failed to win. In front of a fired-up crowd, USAP won its second victory of the season thanks to a try from Crossdale late in the match. Direct consequence in the ranking, Montpellier takes the place of last in the class with a small victory in seven matches.
What a match Clermont and Toulon delivered! The Auvergnats believed for a long time to win but, following a brilliant inspiration from Serin at the end of the match, who served the try to Wainiqolo on a plate, the RCT regained the advantage. Urios’ men pushed, but the Toulonnais were heroic in defense. Without hesitation, THE match of this multiplex, marked in particular by the retirement of the legend Alun Wyn Jones.