ProD2, r21: SU Agen and Oyonnax both win again to set up promotion showdown

22 February 2010

Leaders SU Agen fought back from 3-9 at half-time to beat Union Bordeaux-Bègles 21-16 and set up a potential championship showdown with second-placed Oyonnax next weekend.

Agen opened the scoring through Conrad Barnard's sixth-minute penalty, but found themselves trailing at the interval after a nine-point burst in five minutes from Union thanks to a penalty from Henri-Pierre Vermis and drop-goals from both Jaco Van Schalkwyk and Raphael Lagarde.

Barnard's second penalty success narrowed the gap three minutes after the restart and Agen then reclaimed the lead when full-back Sofiane Guitoune touched down for the game's opening try on 47 minutes.

Barnard was on target with the conversion to make it 13-9, but the ProD2 leaders found themselves behind again after Tongan centre Saia Fekitoa scored a try (converted by Vermis) for the visitors on 54 minutes.

Agen responded with a try from their own Tongan, with hooker Semisi Telefoni powering over just three minutes later for the game's decisive score. Barnard added a further penalty shortly after to seal the win, with Bordeaux having to settle for the defensive bonus.

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The win lifted Agen on to 72 points, but their three-point lead going into the weekend was still cut to two thanks to Oyonnax's bonus-point home win over basement club Lannemezan.

The home side rifled into a 17-0 lead after half an hour on the back of two tries (a penalty try and one from Sébastien Bouillot) and seven points from the boot of Rudi Vogt, but they had to wait until the 52nd minute to cross again, when replacement Jean-Maurice Oulouma touched down.

They managed a fourth score on 65 minutes - their second penalty try of the game - with Vogt again adding the extras to make it 29-0. The victory perfectly sets up next weekend's clash between the top two, although leaders Agen will start as favourites owing to their home advantage.

La Rochelle consolidated third spot with a convincing 32-0 home win over fellow promotion hunters Pau on Sunday.

Benjamin Ferrou set them on their way with a sixth-minute penalty before forward pressure resulted in a penalty try on the quarter hour. Benjamin Dambielle added the conversion and a subsequent penalty to make it 13-0 at half-time, with flanker Nicolas Djebaili going over for their second try just three minutes after the interval.

Fly-half Rémi Tales grabbed their third try on 56 minutes before Dambielle touched down for their fourth try on the hour mark to conclude the scoring.

The defeat was Pau's first in eight games, but La Rochelle's sixth successive earned them a seven point gap to fourth-placed Lyon OU after RC Narbonne and Grenoble both lost away.

Lyon OU took advantage to climb from sixth to fourth on the back of their 26-6 home win against Dax.

The home side scored a try in each half - through number eight Alexandru Manta and winger James Bailey - with full-back Romain Loursac chipping in with four penalties and a conversion, while Dax's response came in the shape of a brace of penalties from Laurent Diaz.

RC Narbonne fell from fourth to fifth following their 17-6 away defeat at Mont-de-Marsan, with both teams ending up a man down after the double sending off of Patrick Bianco and Joachim Algisi in the 57th minute.

The score was 9-6 to Mont-de-Marsan at the time with Thibault Duvallet outkicking Delkeith Pottas by three penalties to two, but Romain Lauga's 60th-minute try proved the game breaker for the hosts as they finally edged clear. Duvallet added a later penalty for good measure to complete the victory in a tetchy match that also saw three yellow cards.

Grenoble slipped from fifth to sixth after going down 24-21 away to seventh-placed Aurillac on Saturday.

Fly-half Jérémy Bourlon was the Aurillac hero as he kicked all of their points via eight successful penalty attempts as they hauled themselves back from a 6-15 deficit shortly before half-time.

Wylie Human and William Helu both scored tries for Grenoble as the visitors dominated the first half hour, but Bourlon's metronomic boot gradually pulled the home side back into contention. His sixth success of the afternoon levelled the scores 18-18 on the hour mark, and the match remained in the balance right to the final whistle.

Danie de Beer's 70th-minute penalty put Grenoble 18-21 ahead, but Bourlon equalized with five minutes to go before landing the knockout blow with his final penalty success in the 80th minute.

Elsewhere, it looks like the ProD2 party is over for Aix-en-Provence after they slipped to a 12-25 home defeat against Colomiers. The hosts knew they had to win against the only team still realistically within their range, but Saturday's defeat means there is now a massive 10-point gap between Provence and safety.

Colomiers winger Vereniki Goneva claimed the only try of the match when he scored after 17 minutes, and the game was then dominated by the kickers as Provence battled for survival.

Four Konstantin Rachkov penalties saw them take a 12-10 lead shortly after half time, but Lilian Majeste replied with four of his own in the following 20 minutes before Men Martin sealed the win with his 79th-minute effort for the away side.

In the weekend's other match Tarbes beat FC Auch Gers 19-13 to record their second successive win after a troubled run that saw them slump down the table.

Again there was a lack of tries with Tarbes' lone effort coming after 21 minutes when Mikaël Etcheverria touched down, while Auch finally crossed in the game's final minute when Erwan Berot scored.

In-between Richard Apanui kept Tarbes' tally ticking over with four successful penalties, while Christophe Clarac replied with two of his own for the visitors.

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