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14
September 2008
| Toulon 13
|
Stade
Francais 19 |
| Castres 11
|
Dax
19 |
|
Perpignan 38 |
Bayonne 10 |
|
Montpellier 32 |
Montauban
10 |
|
Bourgoin 18 |
Mont-de-Marsan 6 |
|
Clermont 16 |
Toulouse 6 |
|
Biarritz 24 |
Brive 5 |
The
shifting sands of this season’s Top 14 continued their
unpredictable pattern over the weekend, although leaders
Stade Francais maintained their perfect start thanks to
a hard-fought 19-13 away win at Toulon’s Stade Mayol
(see
match report).
They
were one of only two teams going into Round 4 with a 100%
per cent win record, but surprise early rivals Bayonne
tripped up in spectacular style when they went down 38-10 in
Perpignan, with the home side running in four tries
to collect the bonus point, and leapfrog up into second
place in the process.
Bayonne
actually dominated the early exchanges but a series of
handling errors proved crucial as the hosts gradually found
their feet. Guilhem Guirado eventually opened the scoring
for USAP on the half hour, with Max Mermoz adding a second
try five minutes later to hand the Catalans an unexpected
18-0 half-time lead.
Benjamin Fall ran in from 60 metres to give Bayonne hope
after the break, but another two tries from David Marty and
Charles Geli, together with 18 points from the boot of
Jérôme Porical, left
Bayonne licking their wounds.
Montauban,
who started the weekend in third place, were another club to
suffer heavy defeat on the road, this time 32-10 away to
Montpellier, who were already out of sight at half-time
after running in three tries to lead 22-3 at the Yves du
Manoir.
Fly
half François Trinh-Duc was at the heart of Montpellier’s
play, setting up three of their four tries, while Irish
full-back Mark McHugh added three conversions and a brace of
penalties as the hosts collected the bonus point to lift
them level with USAP in joint second place.
Centre
Grant Rees opened the scoring with a 16th minute
try before French flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo scored twice in
five minutes before the break to seal the result. English
centre Ollie Smith added the fourth, and his first for the
club, 10 minutes from time, with Antoine Battut scoring
Montauban’s consolation effort.
Meanwhile, in the battle of the heavyweights Clermont
got their season back on track, after two defeats in three,
with a 16-6 home win over defending champions Toulouse.
Forward
domination was key to Clermont’s success, especially in the
line-outs, with Brock James capitalising to kick three
penalties and a conversion after Fijian wing Napoliani
Nalaga had touched down for the game’s only try in the 56th
minute.
Stade
debutant David Skrela kicked a pair of drop-goals in
response but with two defeats out of four the champs’ rusty
start will continue to cause Guy Noves considerable
headaches in the week ahead.
The
victory may not make amends for last season’s championship
heartbreak but it was the perfect response to a tough week
for Les Jaunards, during which they lost club captain
Aurelian Rougerie for three months due to hernia surgery he
is set to undergo on Monday.
The
result leaves both clubs struggling in mid-table (Clermont
sixth, Toulouse seventh) but there’s no doubt who will be
the happier going into Round 5.
At the
other end of the table Dax produced arguably the
result of the day as the bottom club rallied from 11-7 down
at half-time to win 11-19 at Castres, thanks to four
unanswered penalties from Antoine Vignau-Tuquet.
Gavin
Williams had earlier given the visitors the perfect start
with a 5th minute try before full-back Thomas
Bouquié replied in kind, assisted by a brace of Anthony
Lagardère penalties.
But
Dax’s controlled second-half display earned them a deserved
first win of the season, lifting them up to the heady
heights of 11th position while dumping Castres to
the basement in the process. Happy days indeed for ‘Les
Dacquois’.
Elsewhere, Biarritz marmalized Brive 24-5 with
fly-half Valentin Courrent continuing his excellent early
season form with a try, three conversions and a penalty as
he rattled up 14 points.
Romain
Cabannes and winger Jean-Baptiste Gobelet added Biarritz’s
other scores in an amazingly open game, but Brive had only
Alexandru Manta’s 67th minute try to show for
their attacking intent due to innumerable handling errors.
While
the result lifted the home side into fourth spot it left
Brive worryingly placed in 13th and still looking
for their first win of an increasingly anxious season.
The
weekend’s other match saw Bourgoin finally register
their maiden victory courtesy of an 18-6 home triumph over
Mont-de-Marsan, with Sébastien Laloo kicking all
their points.
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