ProD2, r24: SU Agen and Oyonnax neck and neck in the race for promotion to Top 14

15 March 2010

Just two rounds after beating Oyonnax 23-11 to open up a six-point gap long-time leaders SU Agen now find themselves level-pegging with their championship rivals after losing 18-12 at Mont-de-Marsan on Sunday.

Agen's defeat - their first in seven games - left them tied with Oyonnax on 79 points, although their next two games at both at home to lowly Colomiers and Lannemezan.

Sunday's reverse was initiated by Fijian winger Timoci Matanavu's 25th-minute try for the hosts - his sixth of the season - with Thibault Duvallet kicking the conversion and a subsequent penalty as Mont-de-Marsan opened up a 10-6 half-time lead.

Two Francois Gelez penalties kept Agen in touch, but they slipped further behind on 53 minutes when centre Baptiste Chedal-Borne crossed for the home team's second try of the afternoon.

Duvallet's second penalty success extended that lead to 18-6 with just over 20 minutes to go before two more kicks from Gelez in the closing six minutes at least secured the leaders a valuable defensive bonus.

ProD2 Table / ProD2 Top scorers / ProD2 Fixtures & Results

That point allowed Agen to reclaim the lead - on points difference - from Oyonnax on Sunday after the latter had demolished relegation-threatened Aix-en-Provence 36-18 on Saturday.

It was nip and tuck in the opening half with Oyonnax eventually going in 17-13 to the good after a fluctuating 40 minutes. The home side started brightly with two tries in the opening quarter of an hour as Frédéric Charrier and Sylver Tian both crossed to put them 14-3 ahead, but Provence rallied thanks to an Eddy Labarthe try and eight points from the boot of fly-half Antoine Lescalmel.

Rudi Vogt then landed a 38th-minute penalty for Oyonnax - to add to his two earlier conversions - as the hosts established a four-point lead at the interval.

It was a different matter after the break, however, with Ivorian winger Jean-Maurice Oulouma going over twice in six minutes to help the home side push 29-13 ahead. Romain Barriol replied with a 69th-minute effort for the visitors, but Oyonnax ensured they secured the attacking bonus when they were awarded a penalty try seven minutes from time.

Third-placed La Rochelle bounced back from last weekend's defeat at Lyon to win 25-21 at home to fellow promotion-chasers Grenoble.

The hosts went 0-5 down after 10 minutes when Grenoble winger Wylie Human touched down for his seventh try of the campaign, but rallied to lead 22-8 ten minutes into the second half thanks to tries from flanker Nicolas Djebaili and scrum-half Rémi Tales, as well as 12 points from the boot of Sébastien Boboul.

A penalty apiece from Danie de Beer and Pierre-Alexandre Dut reduced that lead to 22-14 with 10 minutes left and La Rochelle were then given a further scare when former Bourgoin winger Fabien Gengenbacher went over two minutes later. Dut's conversion brought Grenoble back to within a point, only for Benjamin Dambielle's 75th-minute penalty to seal a narrow win for the home side.

Fourth-placed Lyon OU slipped up 22-16 at Tarbes as they paid for ill-discipline. Full-back Pierre-Yves Montagnat kicked them into an early 3-0 lead with his ninth-minute penalty, but Tarbes responded with a 15-point burst initiated by Richard Apanui's 11th-minute penalty reply.

Romain Dumestre then crossed for the game's opening try, before a 24th-minute penalty-try and Apanui conversion saw them move 15-3 ahead. Montagnat was on target again after half an hour to narrow the gap but Lyon paid the price for prop Xavier Ford's yellow card when Thierry Lacrampe touched down for Tarbes' third try on 48 minutes. Apanui again added the extras to make it 22-6.

Montagnat's third penalty success reduced that to 22-9 with just over 20 minutes left, but it took a last-minute try from veteran Tongan hooker Ephram Taukafa (coupled with Montagnat's conversion) to allow Lyon to escape with a defensive bonus.

That defeat, along with Grenoble's at La Rochelle, paved the way for RC Narbonne to climb within two points as the rose from sixth to fifth on the back of their 24-18 home win against Dax.

Narbonne winger Romain Martial opened the scoring when he raced in for his ninth try of the season after just seven minutes, but Dax replied in kind soon after when Fijian winger Ratu Naisa Narukutabua did likewise for his seventh of the campaign.

A Christopher Ruiz penalty briefly re-established Narbonne's lead but Anthony Lagardère then landed a drop-goal and penalty of his own to put the visitors 8-11 up as the first-half drew to a close. It was then the turn of 22-year-old Fijian Sionasa Vunisa to grab his ninth try of the season for Narbonne as the home side edged into a 13-11 lead at the break.

Ruiz's second penalty extended that to 16-11 four minutes after the restart before full-back Léo Griffoul scored Narbonne's third try a minute later to make the crucial break. Still Dax refused to cave in and former Castres outside centre Laurent Marticorena touched down on 56 minutes to keep the game alive, with Lagardère's conversion leaving it 21-18 to the home side as the game entered it's final quarter.

It remained like that until Narbonne finally sealed it five minutes from time thanks to a Delkeith Pottas penalty that ensured they reclaimed the final play-off place.

Union Bordeaux-Bègles beat Pau 31-13 to maintain their own hopes of making the play-offs, with their weekend win enabling them to leapfrog their visitors into seventh spot.

Two tries in the opening half hour from 20-year-old fly-half Camille Lopez set them on their way, with centre Henri-Pierre Vermis adding two penalties and a conversion as they stormed into a 21-3 lead at half time. Lopez also chipped in with a drop-goal.

The result was then put beyond doubt when hooker Frédéric Montagnat grabbed Bordeaux's third try on 57 minutes, with replacement flanker Arthur Chollon adding a fourth with 12 minutes left.

Bordeaux were 31-3 up at that point and seemingly cruising for a regulation bonus-point victory, especially when Pau's South African lock Douglas Andrew was sin-binned just two minutes later.

But the yellow card appeared to stimulate the visitors and they somehow ran in two tries in the final 10 minutes despite being a man down, with Grégory Puyo and Fijian winger Akuila Nawerecagi both scoring as they prevented their opponents claiming the attacking bonus.

Ninth-placed Aurillac remain an outside bet for the play-offs after they beat FC Auch Gers 24-15 to stay within six points of the top five.

The home team found themselves 3-9 down after 14 minutes thanks to a trio of penalties form Erwan Bérot, but Patrick Bosque's 23rd-minute yellow card proved costly for the visitors as they went on to concede 12 points during his enforced absence.

Tongan flanker Ikapoté Fono began the fightback when he charged over four minutes after Bosque's dismissal, and three minutes later lock Ehiers Gerber grabbed Aurillac's second try as they rallied into a 15-9 lead.

Home winger Francois Hery then became the second player to be sin-binned (on 33 minutes) with Bérot and Jérémy Bourlon landing a penalty apiece before half-time to leave it 18-12 to Aurillac.

Bourlon landed two more penalties in the closing 18 minutes to ensure the win, with Auch paying dearly for further ill-discipline as they collected two more yellow cards - for Nathan Thierry after 58 minutes, and Alexandre Ricaud after 62 minutes. Their misery was then compounded by a last-minute red for flanker Eric Espagno as they, quite literally, went down fighting.

The weekend's other game saw basement club Lannemezan register only their third win of the season - but their second in three games - as they beat fellow strugglers Colomiers 24-22.

The result will make no difference to Lannemezan's survival hopes - they remain .. points away from safety - but is another rare highlight in what has been an extremely tough debut season in ProD2.

Their prospects didn't look good when Colomiers lock Romain Mémain crossed for the game's opening score after just four minutes, and the hosts found themselves 0-10 down three minutes later when Frédéric Couzier added a penalty to his earlier conversion.

But Lannemezan responded magnificently, running in three tries of their own within the space of 12 minutes as Nicolas Mouret, Mathieu Céolin and Christophe Dasque all touched down for the hosts. Fly-half Jean-Marie Heraut added all three conversions to further cheer the home crowd, although a brace of Couzier penalties ensured Colomiers remained in touch as they went into half-time trailing 21-16.

The second-half was a more fraught affair, with Lannemezan restricted to just three more points via a Dasque drop-goal, while Colomiers edged to within two points for the closing 20 minutes after another pair of Couzier penalties.

But the hosts held out for another landmark victory that means they are now on a two-match winning streak at home.

© Copyright FrenchRugbyClub.com. All rights reserved.