ProD2, r19: Leaders Agen back to winning ways; Victorious Pau maintain momentum

31 January 2010

ProD2 leaders SU Agen returned to winning ways at the weekend, beating FC Auch Gers 21-6 at home to banish the bitterness of successive league defeats to La Rochelle and Aurillac.

Tongan flanker Opeti Fonua got them off to a positive start with his fifth-minute try - his fifth of the season - but Agen failed to score again in the first half, ending up with a narrow 5-3 lead at the interval after Christophe Clarac had potted a penalty back for the visitors.

Scrum-half Clarac actually ended the opening period on the sidelines after being sin-binned in the 35th minute, but Auch continued to hold their hosts they in turn were reduced to 14 men when winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca was yellow carded 15 minutes into the second half.

Clarac then kicked the resultant penalty to put Auch 5-6 ahead, before Agen replied with two of their own through Romain Sola in the next four minutes. At that point the hosts led 11-6 and it stayed that way until Sola's replacement Francois Gelez added another penalty.

With time running out Agen then made sure of the win thanks to to a late try from prop Laurent Cabarry, which Gelez also converted. The victory means that Agen - who this week confirmed the signing of Toulon's discarded South African fly-half Conrad Barnard - remain two points clear of second-placed Oyonnax, who won 13-6 away to RC Narbonne.

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The visitors didn't get off to the most auspicious of starts with prop Giorgi Jgenti getting sin-binned after 19 minutes, but they managed to limit the ensuing damage to just three points scored via a Christopher Ruiz drop-goal.

They were more clinical, however, when they held a similar advantage with flanker Christophe Marth going over just before half-time following a yellow card for Narbonne lock Jandre Mynhardt. ProD2's leading scorer Sylver Tian added the conversion, to go along with Sébastien Bouillot's earlier penalty, to give Oyonnax a 10-3 lead at the interval.

Delkeith Pottas and Tian then traded a further penalty apiece after the break, with Oyonnax maintaining their lead to record their fifth away success of the campaign. Narbonne held on for a defensive bonus, but the home defeat was costly enough to see them slip from fourth to seventh as the race for play-off berths hots up.

Grenoble had gone into Round 19 in third place, but they also lost, going down 26-3 at in-form Pau.

Scrum-half Clément Darbo was the Pau hero, kicking two early penalties before going over for the game's opening try on 28 minutes. He promptly added the conversion and a subsequent penalty as he claimed all of Pau's first-half points as they opened up a 16-3 lead.

Grenoble lock Régis Sigoire was yellow-carded four minutes before the interval, and was then handed his marching orders when he duly picked up a second just eight minutes after the restart.

Fly-half Julien Dumora landed a 55th-minute drop-goal to further extend Pau's lead, while Akuila Nawerecagi's try three minutes later sparked a late search for the attacking bonus. Darbo kicked the conversion - to end with 18 points - but Pau were denied any further scores, no doubt in part hindered by Jérémy Tomuli's 64th-minute yellow card, just two minutes after coming on as a replacement for prop for Karim Koulder.

Still, it was enough to maintain Pau's current upward momentum - and five-match unbeaten streak - with 'Section' climbing up to sixth in the league, just one point and one place below their vanquished opponents.

La Rochelle were also on the move, claiming third spot after winning 12-7 away to Tarbes. The visitors, who had started the day in fifth position, scored all of their points in the opening 48 minutes as full-back Benjamin Dambielle succeeded with four penalty attempts.

It remained that way until Tarbes won a penalty try eight minutes from time, with Richard Apanui adding the straightforward conversion. That late score did at least earn Tarbes a defensive bonus, but it continued a miserable run of form that has seen them lose eight of their last 10 league games.

Lyon OU were the weekend's highest scorers, running in seven tries as they thrashed struggling Colomiers 50-10 to climb up to fourth place, one point behind La Rochelle.

Mosese Ratuvou was first over after 10 minutes, with Xavier Sadourny and Romain Loursac also scoring as they claimed a 22-3 half-time lead. Loursac kicked two of the three conversions, but added four out of four after the break - and another try of his own - as Lyon cut loose.

Alexandru Manta, Antoine Nicoud and James Bailey got the other tries, before Colomiers snuck a last-minute consolation when Mehadji Tidjini crossed, with Ben Martin converting.

While the win lifted Lyon back into the thick of the promotion race, it did nothing to enhance Colomiers' own fight to avoid relegation - especially with 15th-placed Aix-en-Provence winning 20-18 at home to Mont-de-Marsan.

That result means Provence are now just two points adrift of Colomiers - and safety - as they battle for survival in their maiden season in ProD2.

Provence's latest win - only their fourth of the campaign - was sealed in dramatic fashion when Alexis Driollet scored a 78th-minute try to level the scores, before Antoine Lescalmel knocked over the match-winning conversion.

Mont-de-Marsan had earlier claimed a 10-7 lead just before half-time after Damien Cler's 36th-minute try had cancelled out Chris Wyatt's earlier effort for the hosts. A brace of Konstantin Rachkov penalties either side of the interval kicked the initiative back to Provence, but it still took Driollet's late heroics after Simon Ternisien's 55th-minute try enabled 'Les Montois' to reclaim the lead.

There was no such battle at Dax, where the home team cruised to a 34-8 home win over bottom-of-the-table Lannemezan, leaving the visitors nursing their 17th defeat in 18 league games.

The contest was as good as over by half time with Dax having run in three tries to help open up a 27-3 lead. Federico Aramburu grabbed two himself in the opening 18 minutes, with winger Loic Mazières adding the third just before the break. Maxime Petitjean kicked all three conversions, as well as a pair of penalties, and Lannemezan's woes continued when Maxime Guiho was sin-binned three minutes after the restart.

Kane Thompson scored Dax's fourth try just four minutes later, although the visitors did manage to hold them off thereafter. They even managed a try of their own, through Duncan Naude, but it was all too little and too late as Lannemezan continue to be more cut off by the game at the foot of the table. They are now 14 points adrift of Provence, and that's four more than they've managed in 18 games so far this season.

The other weekend match saw ninth-placed Aurillac win 12-7 at home to eight-placed Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

The visitors scored the only try of the match when Saia Fekitoa went over in the 12th minute, but Aurillac did just enough to fight back and win, with Jérémy Bourlon kicking four penalties to seal the victory. 

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