ProD2, round 9: Racing regain lead after Aurillac defeat Stade Rochelais

09 November 2008

Pierre Berbizier’s Racing Metro regained top spot in ProD2 after coming from behind to win 23-16 at Tarbes.

The Paris club were indebted to a converted try 10 minutes from time by X Chavancy as they rallied from 13-10 down shortly after the half-time interval.

Racing had looked set for an easy afternoon when South African Ashley Clarke went over for the game’s opening score on the quarter hour, especially with former All Black Andrew Mehrtens adding the conversion.

But Tarbes’ English fly-half Rory Teague kicked two penalties to leave the home side trailing 6-10 at the break, a deficit they overturned within minutes of the restart when Thierry Lacrampe went over for a try.

Teague added the two points to lift Tarbes 13-10 clear, with Mehrtens’ 50^th-minute penalty leaving it all square.

That’s how it remained until 10 minutes from time, before Chavancy’s decisive late intervention. Mehrtens added a penalty to stretch the lead to 10 points, but Teague’s 78^th-minute reply at least ensured the defensive bonus point for Tarbes’ valiant effort.

Racing’s win lifted them back to the summit after previous leaders La Rochelle went down 25-19 at third-placed Aurillac.

Delkeith Pottas kicked five penalties and a conversion, adding to Fijian Fero Lasagavibau’s 48^th-minute try and Australian Graydon Staniforth’s late drop-goal, as Aurillac continued their excellent recent form.

La Rochelle were dependent on Sebastien Boboul’s boot to keep them in the game – he kicked four penalties – before Kevin Burgaud’s 74^th-minute converted try put a slightly more rosy reflection on the scoreline.

Aurillac’s win lifted them into second place, level on points with new leaders Racing.

Fourth-placed Albi got back to winning ways as they ran in three tries in their 30-20 home victory against Colomiers.

Nineteen points were scored in a frenetic opening eight minutes with Kiwi Corey Niwa kicking three penalties for Colomiers in response to Tim Bowker’s try and Benjamin Lapeyre’s conversion and penalty.

Niwa went on to add a further brace of successful kicks, but not before prop Martin Grady had gone over for Albi’s second try, again converted by Lapeyre, as the home side went in 20-15 ahead at the interval.

Fijian wing Malakai Bakaniceva scored Colomiers only try 10 minutes after the restart, but Albi responded swiftly with Laurent Baluc Rittener grabbing their third shortly after, with Lapeyre once more adding the extras.

The fly-half completed the scoring three minutes from time with his third successful penalty, taking his match haul to 15 and denying the visitors a bonus point to boot. 

A first-half try by Bertrand Guilloux, the only one of the match, set Oyonnax on their way to a comfortable 25-9 home win against Auch.

Guilloux’s 20^th-minute score was successfully converted by Pierre Yves Montagnat, who also kicked four penalties in the home side’s fifth victory of the season.

Sebastien Bouillot added a drop goal and a further penalty for good measure, with the Gascons’ only reply being a hat-trick of penalties from Vincent Cortes as they vainly sought their first away win of the season.

A last-minute drop goal from Pierre-Alexandre Dut secured Grenoble a 21-20 home win against Lyon OR, who were left cursing their luck after outscoring their hosts by two tries to nil.

Dut’s last-gasp winner capped an excellent personal match as he scored all of his team’s points in their narrow win, courtesy of six penalties and that drop-goal.

Lyon’s response had come in the shape of a first-half try from prop Laurent Pakihivatau and a second-half score from Samoan Jason Aisake-Peseta. South African Jeandre Fourie added the conversions on both occasions, as well a penalty in each half, but Dut’s boot had the final say as Grenoble fought back for their fifth win of the campaign.

French centre Gregory Puyo was Pau’s hero as he scored both his side’s tries in their morale-boosting 18-14 away win at Union Bordeaux-Begles.

Fijian centre Jeremaiya Tamanisau’s sixth-minute try gave the home side the lead initially, but their advantage lasted all of 120 seconds before Puyo went over for the first of his scores. Sebastien Descons kicked two penalties to give Pau a narrow 8-11 advantage at the break, before Puyo’s second try took them clear. Descons added the conversion, and though Henry-Pierre Vermis narrowed the gap with a brace of penalties the visitors managed to hang on for deserved win.

Beziers came back from 6-13 down after 21 minutes to beat Agen 21-16 on Sunday afternoon and record only their second win of the season.

Beziers, who narrowly lost away to Lyon last week, opened the scoring when Thomas Pochelu kicked the first of his six penalties in the 12^th minute, but Agen responded with Jerome Miquel stroking a 14^th-minute drop-goal followed by his own penalty four minutes later.

Pochelu’s second made it 6-6 after 20 minutes but then Jean Monribot went over for the game’s only try, with Miquel adding the conversion.

A Pochelu penalty and Jonathan Bousquet drop-goal made it 12-13 at half-time, before the former’s fourth penalty put the home side back in the lead shortly after the restart.

It stayed that way until Miquel’s 68th-minute penalty saw the lead swing back to Agen, only for Pochelu to step up once more and nail the decisive kick eight minutes from time. Just for good measure he then added his sixth on the final whistle to guarantee the win.

Basement club Bourg-en-Bresse were within nine minutes of a shock away win at Narbonne before Frederic Arniaud stepped up to kick his fourth penalty as the hosts squeaked home 22-21.

Sebastien Regy opened the scoring with a third-minute try for Narbonne in what turned out to be a highly entertaining match. Arniaud added the conversion but Bourg responded with Nicolas Manguelin kicking a sixth-minute penalty before English centre George Truelove went over for a converted try shortly after.

Arniaud kicked the first of his four penalties to make level it up, but Bourg’s second try – scored by Alexandre Ducrozet - ensured the visitors had a 15-10 half-time lead.

Manguelin and Mathieu Chabaud added a penalty apiece for Bourg in the second period, but it was Arniaud’s boot which proved decisive as he kicked three more of his own, as well as a drop-goal, to confirm the win.

© Copyright FrenchRugbyClub.com. All rights reserved.