ProD2, r15: Buoyant Agen halfway to heaven after bonus-point home win against Tarbes

21 December 2009

ProD2 reached the halfway stage at the weekend and leaders SU Agen once more underlined their credentials to claim the only automatic promotion slot with a resounding 32-14 bonus-point win against Tarbes.

The pre-season favourites have now opened up a 10 point margin at the head of ProD2 as they continue their relentless march towards Top 14.

Saturday's win was their 12th in 15 outings and they now look good value to avoid the somewhat unpredictable nature of the end-of-season play-offs. Last year they lost out to Oyonnax at the semi-final stage despite having finished clear of the chasing pack in second place - behind runaway leaders Racing-Métro 92 - but their dominant form so far this season would seem to suggest the play-offs will be superfluous this time around.

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They certainly looked a class apart at home to Tarbes on Saturday, although the visitors did manage to hang on until Agen took control in the second half. A 12th-minute penalty try - converted by Romain Sola - set them on their way, and they went further ahead shortly after when Semisi Telefoni touched down a minute after Tarbes prop Mamuka Magrakvelidze had been yellow carded.

Sola was again on target with the extras as Agen opened up a 14-3 advantage, but the visitors fought back valiantly to level 14-14 at half-time thanks to three Krist Kopetsky penalties and Paul Dabrin's 29th-minute try.

Hopes of an upset, however, were dashed by a quick-fire brace of penalties from Sola shortly before the hour mark, before two more tries in the closing seven minutes sealed the offensive bonus for Agen.

Free-scoring Fijian winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca was first over, touching down in the 73rd minute for his sixth try of the campaign, and Agen's joy was complete when Moroccan replacement hooker Jalil Narjissi rounded the match off with the home side's third try in the dying seconds.

Tarbes have now lost six of their last seven league games, while Agen's bonus-point win means they are 10 points clear of nearest rivals Oyonnax, who took advantage of Lyon's postponed game at Lannemezan to climb up to second following their 26-21 victory at La Rochelle.

There were five yellow cards and a red in an ill-tempered second half, but Oyonnax - who were 23-0 up after 32 minutes - withstood a late rally from the hosts to register their fourth away win of the season.

Full-back Sylver Tian's 10th-minute penalty put Oyonnax 3-0 up before fly-half Sébastien Bouillot got in on the act wit a drop-goal and penalty of his own as the visitors established early control.

Winger Jérôme Naves then raced off for two tries in five minutes - both converted by Tian - as the visitors stretched their lead to a seemingly invincible 23-0.

At that point the only question appeared to be when Oyonnax would secure the attacking bonus, but Florian Ninard's 35th-minute try breathed new life into a match which was threatening to be horribly one-sided. Romain Lacoste added the conversion to leave it 7-23 at half-time, and home spirits were further raised following Tian's yellow card three minutes after the interval.

But La Rochelle failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and went 7-26 down shortly after when Bouillot slotted his second penalty. The score remained that way until five minutes from the end, although both sides had a further player sin-binned in the meantime, with Tamato Leopolu (53 mins) and Jordan Merie (70 mins) being sin-binned for separate incidents.

Despite being a man down for the closing 10 minutes there really shouldn't have been any cause for Oyonnax alarm as they still led by 19 points, and yet..

La Rochelle replacement Franco Pani then touched down for the home side, with Lacoste converting, while a madcap last three minutes then saw Oyonnax lose two further players - with Guillaume Cortal yellow-carded on 77 minutes and Naude Beukes sent-off in the 80th minute. The hosts also lost one of their number, with Damien Neveu seeing yellow at the same time as Cortal, but still found time for a penalty try against their 12-man opponents. Lacoste was again on target with the conversion, leaving players, spectators and officials exhausted after the climactic end to the match.

Oyonnax were, ultimately, happy enough just to emerge with the win, while La Rochelle - who stayed sixth - somehow managed to at least rescue the most unlikely of defensive bonus points following their 21-26 defeat.

RC Narbonne had gone into the weekend in second place, but they came spectacularly unstuck at lowly Colomiers as they crashed to a 35-13 defeat.

The home side raced into a 21-6 half-time lead with flanker Fabien Berneau and lock Olivier Caisso both going over for tries, while Frédéric Couzier landed three penalties and a conversion.

Narbonne's Benjamin Beaux briefly raised the visitors' morale with a a try five minutes after the restart - which Christopher Ruiz converted to add to his pair of first-half penalties - but that was as good as it got for the away side. Former Brumbies centre Sanualio Afeaki was subsequently yellow carded - his second in just five games for Narbonne since jetting in from Australia - and Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva then compounded the visitors' misery by scoring Colomiers' third try on 68 minutes.

The home side kept pushing for the attacking bonus - despite having Sébastien Inigo yellow-carded with five minutes left - and their efforts eventually paid off when Julian Hans crossed in the game's final minute, with Couzier again converting to leave the end score 35-13.

Fifth-placed Grenoble remain in the last play-off spot after Damien Vidal's 77th-minute penalty earned them a 14-14 away draw at Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

Two penalties apiece from Bordeaux's Henri-Pierre Vermis and Grenoble's Danie de Beer had earlier ensured it was all square 6-6 at half-time, although the hosts went 9-6 up on 58 minutes when Laurent Ferrères landed a drop-goal. Grenoble fought back to reclaim the lead six minutes later when Fijian winger Jone Daunivucu scored the game's first try, but former Bristol winger Vungakoto Lilo then set up a grandstand finale when the Tongan replied in kind with 10 minutes left.

Both conversions were missed, leaving Bordeaux 14-11 ahead until Vidal's late penalty ensured the points (and honours) were shared.

Friday night's match between Pau and FC Auch Gers also ended in a draw, although there was far less action in this game as finished 3-3.

Auch's Benjamin Feilles opened the scoring with his 15th-minute penalty, but Clément Darbo equalised just before the half hour, and that's how it remained until the end. Auch will undoubtedly be the happier of the two sides, although Pau will be cheered by the playing return of captain Paul Dearlove after a lengthy absence due to a lingering disc problem.

The weekend's other match saw Dax record a 15-6 away win at Aix-en-Provence. Two Antoine Lescalmel penalties gave the home side a narrow 6-3 half-time advantage, but Dax edged ahead just before the hour mark when full-back Laurent Diaz went over for a try.

Provence tried to respond as they went in search of only their fourth league win, but in the end it was Dax who pulled clear when Anthony Lagardere touched down in the final minute to seal the win - and also deny the home side a defensive bonus. 

Lannemezan's home match with Lyon - which was postponed due to a frozen pitch - will now be played in Sunday February 14th 2010, at 3pm. No date has yet been confirmed for the other weekend postponement - Aurillac's home game with Mont-de-Marsan. 

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