ProD2, r23: Leaders Agen held to a draw at Pau; La Rochelle's winning run ends at Lyon

11 March 2010

ProD2 leaders SU Agen were held to a 16-16 draw at Pau on Sunday as the play-off chasing home side recorded their fifth tie of the season.

In-form scrum-half Clement Darbo crossed for Pau on 27 minutes to open the scoring, adding the conversion himself and a subsequent penalty as they went 10-0 up shortly before the interval.

Both sides had a player sin-binned right on stroke of half-time, with Pau’s Jeremy Tomuli and Agen’s Laurent Cabarry – both props – seeing yellow.

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The leaders then emerged with intent after the break, with Conrad Barnard getting them on the board with a 43^rd-minute penalty before flanker Adri Badenhorst touched down 10 minutes later to level the scores (after Barnard had converted).

Barnard and Darbo then exchanged a penalty each to leave it 13-13 with 15 minutes left, but Agen looked as if they had stolen it when Francois Gelez kicked them ahead with a 68^th-minute penalty.

It remained 13-16 until the final minute, but Pau’s Darbo wasn’t to be denied and his last-ditch penalty ensured the game finished all square, although Agen ended a man down after Gelez was yellow-carded.

Agen’s draw paved the way for second-placed Oyonnax to close the gap to four points after their 13-12 away win at relegation-threatened Colomiers – also on Sunday.

Colomiers were leading 6-3 after 25 minutes as Frederic Couzier out-kicked Sylver Tian by two penalties to one, but the visitors then went ahead thanks to lock Damien Fevre’s try. Rudi Vogt duly converted, and also added a penalty before the break as Oyonnax went in 6-13 to the good.

Couzier’s second penalty success made it 9-13 soon after the restart and Oyonnax further wobbled after Lukas Rapant was sin-binned in the 58^th minute – paving the way for a Ben Martin penalty to bring the hosts back to within a point.

The last 20 minutes were a predictably tense affair but Oyonnax just managed to hold out for league win number 17 as they bounced back from last weekend’s defeat at Agen.

La Rochelle’s seven-match winning streak finally ended at fellow promotion-chasers Lyon OU on Saturday as the visitors went down 20-14 to taste defeat for the first time since December 20^th.

Lyon, who remain fourth after the win, surged into an early 10-0 lead thanks to Pierre-Yves Montagnat’s ninth-minute try – converted by Romain Loursac – and a Xavier Sadourny drop-goal. Hooker Ephram Taukafa then saw yellow, but Lyon stood firm despite being a man down and held out to maintain their 10-point advantage until half time.

Benjamin Dambielle then landed two quick-fire penalties (in the 41^st and 49^th minutes) to bring La Rochelle back into the game, before Montagnat’s second try of the match moved the hosts further clear. Loursac was again on target with the conversion, as well as an earlier penalty, as Lyon moved 20-6 clear.

Replacement Florian Ninard grabbed a try back for La Rochelle on the hour mark, but the visitors looked like departing empty handed until Dambielle’s last-minute drop-goal earned them what could prove to be a crucial defensive bonus.

The visitors remain third despite their defeat, but fourth-placed Lyon have now closed the gap to three points following their weekend victory.

Fifth-placed Grenoble continued their push for the play-offs with a narrow 22-20 home win against Tarbes. South African fly-half Danie de Beer was Grenoble’s hero, scoring all 22 of their points via a try, five penalties and a conversion.

Tarbes started the brighter and were 3-11 up after 20 minutes thanks to a Sebastien Caujolle try and a brace of penalties from Richard Apanui. De Beer and Apanui then traded a further penalty each before Grenoble’s fly-half touched down and converted his own try three minutes before the interval to leave it 13-14.

It was a similar story after the break as the opposing fly-halves continued to monopolise the scoring, with two more successful kicks each taking the score to 19-20, before De Beer’s final penalty eventually won it for the hosts 13 minutes from time.

RC Narbonne climbed from seventh to sixth on the back of their 25-9 home win against Aurillac – combined with Pau’s home draw against Agen.

The opening 35 minutes were dominated by the kickers as Narbonne’s Christopher Ruiz outscored his Aurillac opposite number Jeremy Bourlon by four penalties to three, but the home side then made a decisive break as 22-year-old Fijian winger Sionasa Vunisa ran in for the game’s opening try – and his eighth of the season. Ruiz’s conversion left the Narbonne 19-9 up at the interval, a lead they extended further when Ruiz was on target again with a 60^th-minute penalty.

Ruiz added his sixth success of a profitable afternoon to wrap up the scoring just one minute after Aurillac’s Dan Baleinadogo was sin-binned – in the 63^rd minute.

Elsewhere, Dax won 21-15 at FC Auch Gers to register one of only two away victories at the weekend, with fly-half Maxime Petitjean inflicting the damage by kicking seven penalties.

Petitjean struck four times in the opening 35 minutes to put the visitors 0-12 up, with Anthony Salle-Canne’s 39^th-minute response Auch’s only score before the break. Hooker Sebastien Bručre then went over for the home team eight minutes after the restart to offer hope of a comeback, only to be dashed by Petitjean’s metronomic boot as the Dax No 10 kicked three more penalties to ensure the win. The last of those came on the hour mark as Dax moved 8-20 ahead, although Auch never gave up and managed to secure a defensive bonus thanks to a 63^rd-minute try from Erwan Berot, which the winger then converted himself.

Lowly Aix-en-Provence gave themselves a survival lifeline after they beat Union Bordeaux-Bčgles 13-10 at home to record only their fifth win of a testing campaign.

Their prospects didn’t look good when Bordeaux flanker Seti Filo crossed in the 25^th minute to help the visitors into a 0-7 lead, but Provence soon found themselves back on level terms after scrum-half Fabrice Corompt replied, with Antoine Lescalmel adding the extras.

Raphael Lagarde and Lescalmel then added one more penalty apiece after the interval before the latter won the match with a 70^th-minute kick that keeps their vague hopes of survival alive.

Provence had gone into Round 23 a massive 10 points behind 14^th-placed Colomiers, but that gap is now down to seven after the latter lost 12-13 at home to Oyonnax (see above). 

Mont-de-Marsan registered their biggest win of the season as they thrashed basement club Lannemezan 46-6. The hosts ran in six tries, including four in the final 20 minutes, as they overwhelmed their visitors.

‘Les Montois’ were made to work hard for the lead in the opening period and were only 13-6 ahead at the interval thanks to a 14^th-minute try from flanker Julien Taste and eight points from the boot of Thibault Duvallet. Two Jean-Marie Heraut penalties kept Lannemezan in touch despite Eric Lacrampe’s yellow card, but Tastet’s second try – one minute after the restart – appeared to break their defiance.

Mounting pressure eventually told when replacement number eight Yann Brethous bundled over on the hour mark, paving the way for further scores from full-back Florent Cazeaux (twice) and winger Damien Cler. Duvallet added all four conversions to end with a personal match haul of 16 points.

Lannemezan’s latest defeat was their 20^th in 22 league matches, and leaves them 16 points adrift at the bottom of the league following Aix-en-Provence’s home win against Bordeaux.

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