ProD2, r30: Pau's narrow win at Auch secures play-off slot at Grenoble's expense

La Rochelle and Pau were the big winners on the final day of the ProD2 regular season, with the former winning away at Oyonnax 9-6 and the latter triumphing 19-16 at FC Auch Gers.

La Rochelle’s victory over Oyonnax means they will now be at home to the same opponents in the play-off semi-finals, while Pau’s narrow win at Auch secured them the final play-off slot (away to Lyon OU), despite finishing level on points with sixth-placed Grenoble.

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Grenoble did all they could to try and edge Pau out – winning with the attacking bonus at home to Union Bordeaux-Begles – but it was just not enough as they missed out by the smallest of margins on the chance for promotion to Top 14.

La Rochelle’s 9-6 away win at Oyonnax was a predictably tight affair as the two teams jockeyed for play-off positions.

The visitors had the upper hand in the first half and went in 9-3 ahead thanks to a pair of drop-goals from Rémi Tales and a penalty from Sébastien Boboul. Oyonnax’s reply, just before the break, came via Sylver Tian’s boot, and the in-demand full-back ensured a nervous second period when he cut the deficit further with another penalty success on 50 minutes.

Lyon OU	44	Lannemezan	13
Grenoble	33	Union Bordeaux-Bègles	3
FC Auch Gers	16	Pau	19
RC Narbonne	34	Colomiers	17
Oyonnax	6	La Rochelle	9
Tarbes	29	SU Agen	27
Mont-de-Marsan	42	Aurillac	15
Dax	33	Aix-en-Provence	24

But, try as they might after that, the home side just couldn’t find a way through La Rochelle’s defence, leaving the visitors narrow winners by three points to earn a home re-run of the same fixture in the play-off semi-finals. The scale of the achievement, in winning at Oyonnax, is reflected in the fact this was their first home defeat in two seasons and 33 league games.

La Rochelle will no doubt start favourites for that match as they will not only go in with home advantage, but also with soaring player confidence after winning 14 of their last 16 league games. That’s some form to be taking into the play-offs.

Likewise with Pau, whose 19-16 win at FC Auch Gers secured them the final play-off berth after their seventh successive league win. Indeed, Section Paloise – to give them their full name - have ended the regular season with just two defeats in their last 18 games - including four draws – as they timed their run to perfection.

Sunday’s win was a feisty affair which saw three tries, three yellow cards and enough frayed nerves to send even the calmest of supporters into meltdown.

Tit-for-tat penalties in the opening 10 minutes from Pau’s Clément Darbo and Auch’s Patrick Bosque set the tone for a close fought affair that never saw a greater points gap than eight between the two sides.

Pau, who were never behind, made the initial break when Clément Fromont touched down for the game’s first try on 13 minutes. Darbo added the extras to leave the visitors 10-3 ahead, but Auch found a swift reply when Alexandre Ricaud went over just five minutes later.

The missed conversion meant Pau were still ahead, and they extended their advantage to five points when Darbo slotted his second penalty on 22 minutes. Then, with half-time beckoning, Auch’s Bosque was sin-binned, and with Darbo off injured Andre Hough took over the kicking duties to land Pau’s third penalty success.

News that Grenoble were piling on the tries at home to Bordeaux meant there was no room for slip-ups, but the Pau dressing room must still have been in confident shape during the interval after they went in 16-8 to the good.

But the match was far from over just yet, and the momentum swung back towards Auch 10 minutes after the restart when Pau’s Philippe Guicherd was yellow-carded. The home side took immediate advantage of their numerical superiority when Stephan Saint-Lary went over for their second try just one minute later, although the conversion was missed again.

Hough’s 54^th-minute penalty gave Pau breathing space, and they were given a further helping hand when Tao Tapasu was sin-binned six minutes later, but Benjamin Feilles then landed a penalty for the home side to make it 16-19 with just 13 tension-stricken minutes to play.

But that’s how it finally ended, with the away side continuing their excellent recent run to ensure they have a shot at returning to join France’s rugby elite.

To do so, however, they will have to triumph away to second-placed Lyon OU, who made short work of relegated Lannemezan on Sunday.

Both sides traded two penalties apiece in the opening 20 minutes before Lyon turned dominance into points and scored the first of their six tries. Tony Testa was first over, on 24 minutes, with Nicolas Bontinck and James Bailey both adding further scores before the interval.

A 58^th-minute penalty try continued their push, with Romain Loursac then adding a quick-fire brace as he crossed in the 67^th and 69^th minutes to ensure the attacking bonus. Pierre-Yves Montagnat kicked four conversions, in addition to two penalties, while Lannemezan at least waved goodbye to ProD2 on a positive note when Gregory Bernard crossed for a consolation score in the game’s final minute.

The weekend’s biggest losers were undoubtedly Grenoble, who missed out on the play-offs despite scoring four unanswered tries in their 33-3 home win against Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

Grenoble had been in the play-off zone for much of the season, but last week’s 26-19 away loss at Oyonnax ultimately proved their undoing, rendering Sunday’s result meaningless due to Pau’s win at Auch.

The players did what they could on Sunday, winning comfortably thanks to tries from Thomas Bianchin (2), Andrew Farley, Sam Cordingley and Wylie Human, but that will be of little consolation to fans and squad alike after missing out on the play-offs on point difference alone.

Elsewhere, already promoted SU Agen went down 29-27 in an entertaining match at Tarbes. Former Toulon fly-half Conrad Barnard got the visitors off to a perfect start when he converted his own first-minute try, but Tarbes rallied to take a 20-10 half-time lead after tries of their own from Mamuka Magrakvelidze and Thierry Lacrampe, with Anthony Bourgeois adding both conversions, a penalty and a drop-goal.

Bourgeois put Tarbes further ahead with a 50^th-minute penalty, but Agen then scored three tries in the closing 25 minutes as they sought to end on a winning note.

Fijian winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca started the fight-back with his 13th try of the season in the 54^th minute, before further scores from Saimoni Vaka (his 10th of the campaign) and Opeti Fonua (his 11th) saw them close to within two points by the end.

But the result was academic in terms of affecting Agen’s future, with the ProD2 champions now preparing for life back in the big time after fulfilling their pre-season tag of favourites to claim the sole automatic promotion slot.

Their bonus point meant they finished with 105 in total for 2009/10, leaving them as worthy champions as they finished a full 11 points ahead of Lyon OU and La Rochelle. They also topped the table in terms of points scored (724) and least points conceded (378), while their season’s haul of 80 tries was a massive 20 more than next best RC Narbonne.

In the weekend’s other matches RC Narbonne beat Colomiers 34-17, Mont-de-Marsan piled on the points as they beat Aurillac 42-15 and relegated Aix-en-Provence went down 33-24 away to Dax.

Play-offs:
Lyon OU v Pau
La Rochelle v Oyonnax