ProD2, r16: Five-try Pau demolish Narbonne; Oyonnax close gap on leaders SU Agen

12 January 2010

Last season's play-off finalists Oyonnax took advantage of SU Agen's postponed home match (against Dax) to close the gap on the ProD2 leaders to six points following their weekend home win against Aurillac.

The hosts got off to an ideal star when free-scoring former Brive winger Jérôme Naves went over in the eighth minute for his sixth try of the season, but scoring was limited for the rest of the first half with both sides clocking one penalty each as Oyonnax went in 8-3 ahead at the interval.

It remained that way until just after the hour mark when Aurillac stunned the home side by taking the lead following a converted try from fly Jérémy Bourlon. The visitors held on in the face of mounting pressure until seven minutes from time when full-back Sylver Tian touched down to earn Oyonnax their 13-10 win.

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The victory maintained Oyonnax's 100% home record (eight wins from eight), and also earned them breathing space ahead of the chasing pack after RC Narbonne were crushed 46-7 at Pau.

Narbonne had gone into the match in third place, just two points behind Oyonnax, but they were unceremoniously hammered by Pau as the hosts ran in five unanswered tries to record their biggest victory margin of the season.

Scrum-half Clément Darbo set them on their way with a fourth-minute penalty before Natal Sharks winger Akuila Nawerecagi touched down shortly after for his first try for the club. Darbo missed the conversion but was on target with a second penalty on the quarter hour as Pau opened up a 14-0 lead.

Fijian flyer Nawerecagi then doubled up with try number two on 23 minutes and the writing was on the wall when number eight Epito Arnaud ran in their third first-half score as Pau capitalized on their numerical advantage following a yellow card for Narbonne hooker Joachim Algisi. Darbo kicked the extras and a further penalty right on the stroke of half-time to see the hosts going in 28-0 up.

Any thoughts Narbonne harboured of making a second-half fightback were then swept away when winger Mathieu Dourthe crossed in the 47th minute, with Darbo adding two more penalties before Dourthe emulated Nawerecagi's double by following in for his second try on 65 minutes.

Despite being 46-0 up the home side managed to have two players sin-binned in the final 10 minutes - replacements Jérémy Haurie and André Hough - paving the way for a late penalty try by Narbonne which Sébastien Buada converted. Still, it was a minor blip on a magnificent result for Pau as they moved to within three points of the play-off zone.

Grenoble climbed from fifth to third on the back of their 43-10 win away to basement club Lannemezan on Sunday.

The visitors stormed into a 24-10 half-time lead thanks to tries from Danie de Beer, Thomas Bianchin and William Helu, with de Beer adding all three conversions and a penalty kick for good measure.

Lannemezan did manage a try of their own when Matthieu Céolin went over in the 30th minute, and they the half-time score remained as it was until the visitors ran in three more tries in the final 10 minutes as the hosts finally tired.

Fabien Gengenbacher was first over, before outside centre Denis Lison grabbed a quick-fire brace with scores in the 73rd and 76th minutes to complete the resounding bonus-point win.

The victory saw Grenoble leapfrog both Narbonne and Lyon OU into third spot, but they are still five points behind Oyonnax. Lannemezan, meanwhile, remain rooted to the foot of the table, 15 points adrift of safety after their 14th defeat in 15 games.

Lyon OU slipped down from fourth to fifth after they lost 27-9 away to Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

Bordeaux full-back Laurent Ferrères scored a second-minute try to give the hosts an early lead before a brace of penalties from Pierre-Yves Montagnat reduced the deficit to a single point at half time.

Raphaël Lagarde replied in kind after the interval, pushing Bordeaux 13-6 ahead, and although Romain Loursac kicked a 70th-minute response for Lyon it proved irrelevant as the hosts ran in two late tries to seal the bonus-point win.

Former Bristol winger Vungakoto Lilo was first over in the 74th minute, with replacement Mathieu Badel following up in the dying seconds as the home side completed the 27-9 victory.

The only other match on an abbreviated weekend - due to the snow - saw sixth-placed La Rochelle record a 25-20 home win against Mont-de-Marsan.

The visitors arrived fresh from a five-point docking by the DNACG, and soon found themselves 13-0 down after Guillaume Devade's 12th-minute try and eight points from the boot of Sébastien Boboul.

Fly-half Thibault Duvallet got the visitors on the board with a 21st-minute penalty and they narrowed the gap back to just three points when he then converted Simon Ternisien's 27th-minute try. But Rochelle scrum-half Benjamin Ferrou found a way through just before the interval, and with Boboul again adding the extras the home side went in 20-10 ahead at the break.

Hooker Franco Pani extended the lead with his 59th-minute try, but Mont-de-Marsan refused the buckle and rallied sufficiently in the closing stages to earn a defensive bonus. Duvallet's 64th-minute penalty made it 25-13, with Yannick Lafforgue's late try - again converted by Duvallet - doing the rest.

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