Top 14, r10 review: Unsung Castres
claim top spot; 21-up for Toulon's Jonny Wilkinson
24 October
2009
| Bayonne |
6 |
Castres |
15 |
| Stade
Toulousain |
23 |
Biarritz |
3 |
| Montpellier |
16 |
Clermont
Auvergne |
9 |
| Toulon |
46 |
Bourgoin |
28 |
|
Montauban |
20 |
SCA Albi |
6 |
| Brive |
10 |
Racing-Metro
92 |
18 |
| Stade Francais |
14 |
Perpignan |
21 |
Unsung
Castres are the new leaders of Top 14 after Clermont
Auvergne slipped to a 16-9 defeat away to lowly Montpellier.
Castres had earlier assumed top spot on Friday evening
following their latest win, a scrappy 16-9 victory away to
struggling Bayonne.
Those
two results combined to leave Castres at the summit of
France’s Top 14, a wholly unforeseen situation at the
beginning of the season given the traditional dominance of
the ‘Big Four’.
But
Castres have shown an ability to grind out priceless wins
this season under the stewardship of new coaching duo
Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit. The former may continue
to peddle the club’s stated party line of securing against
relegation, but Castres are now top of the pile after
picking up seven wins and a draw in their opening 10 league
games.
Top 14 Table /
Top 14 try-scorers
/
Top 14 Results
/
Top 14
Fixtures
Australian fly-half Cameron McIntyre kicked five penalties
to secure their latest win in an otherwise forgettable match
as players from both sides struggled with the wet and muddy
conditions.
Bayonne
had gone into the match languishing in 12th spot,
but hopeful of maintaining their 100% win record at home
this season, and that might have been the case had Benat
Arrayet been more accurate with his place-kicking. But the
Basques’ scrum-half missed two of his three first-half
attempts and were thankful to Craig Gower’s opportunistic
40m-drop goal for seeing them go into the interval at 6-6.
McIntyre
had kicking problems of his own but did at least manage to
add three more penalties after the break (in addition to his
two earlier successes) as the visitors gradually pulled
clear.
The
subdued home crowd epitomized the lack of fight displayed by
Bayonne in the second half, and the hosts even squandered
another late penalty – this time by replacement scrum-half
Manny Edmonds – as they missed the chance to grab a
defensive bonus in the 76th minute.
That
won’t have troubled Castres, however, and their smiles grew
even broader after Clermont Auvergne went down 16-9 in
Montpellier on
Saturday afternoon. ‘Les Jaunards’ had arrived confident of
repeating last season’s double over their Mediterranean
guests, but soon found themselves 7-0 down following Grant
Rees’ early try and Federico Todeschini’s conversion.
A trio
of Brock James penalties saw them reclaim the lead by the
half hour mark, but Todeschini replied in kind, succeeding
with efforts in the 36th, 40th and 57th
minutes to claim another notable home win for Montpellier,
to follow their previous successes against Perpignan,
Biarritz and Toulon.
Elsewhere, Stade Toulousain brought Biarritz’s seven-match
winning streak to a grinding halt with a convincing 23-3
home victory that featured tries from Vincent Clerc and Yann
David. Fly-half Frédéric Michalak chipped in with two
penalties, a drop-goal and a conversion as he made the most
of a rare start ahead of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
"They
were better than us and there is not much to say," reflected
Biarritz assistant coach Jack Isaac afterwards. "For some
time, especially with this series of seven consecutive
victories, we were praised a little too much for my liking.
This defeat will put us back down to earth, and I hope we
will bounce back," he added.
Basement
club SCA Albi slumped to their ninth defeat in 10 games as
they went down 20-6 at Montauban. Flanker Antoine Battut
scored the game’s only try eight minutes after half-time,
with Montauban’s other points coming via five successful
penalties from fly-half Cédric Rosalen.
Frédéric
Manca kicked two penalties in reply for the visitors, but
missed three others and was also yellow-carded as he
experienced a mixed afternoon.
England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson contributed
21 points as Toulon returned to winning ways with a
resounding 46-28 home victory against Bourgoin.
The
rejuvenated World Cup winner stroked five out of five
conversions, two penalties and a maiden try for his new club
as Philippe Saint-André’s men bounced back from successive
league defeats. Indeed, Toulon had lost four of their last
five league games heading into this fixture, but a
second-minute kick from Wilkinson settled early nerves, and
they were soon further ahead following their opening try
from skipper Joe Van Niekerk shortly after.
Scores
from scrum-half Pierre Mignoni, lock Joselito Suta and
English flanker Joe El-Abd (also his first for the club)
eased Toulon comfortably clear before Wilkinson’s
coup-de-grace in the 71st minute as he executed
an inch-perfect chip-and-collect over the Bourgoin defence
before running on and touching down between the posts.
The
30-year-old rose to convert his own try, but had been
substituted for Sebastien Fauqué by the time Christian
Loamanu powered over for Toulon’s sixth try in the final
minute.
Bourgoin
never gave up in an entertaining encounter, and managed
scores of their own through Connie Basson, Sylvain Nicolas
and a 79th-minute penalty try as they battled
valiantly against Toulon’s free-flowing runners. The home
side, however, did just enough to secure the attacking
bonus, and there were even signs that former Saracens
favourite Kris Chesney is coming to terms with French club
rugby after he was ticked off for a first-half punch.
But it
will be Wilkinson who again hogs the headlines after another
stellar performance to confirm his French rebirth.
"It was
fun but it was not a perfect match," said Wilkinson. "We
started well but at times we lost our defensive shape and
the game became complicated. We were afraid of losing the
offensive bonus right up to the end," he added.
Coach
Saint-André described the match as "a pivotal game" and
praised his players for showing the mental and physical
strength to ensure the attacking point was secured.
England
internationals Andy Goode and Shaun Perry both started on
the bench as struggling Brive went down 10-18 at home to
Racing-Métro 92. This latest defeat was their sixth in their
last seven games – including the Heineken Cup – and further
confirmed that all is not right at the Limousin club.
The home
side showed a severe lack of confidence throughout and were
constantly betrayed by unforced handling errors and giving
away a stream of silly penalties. Racing fly-half Jonathan
Wisniewski missed an early drop-goal but then landed six out
of six penalties to condemn Brive to another loss at the
Stade Amédée Domenech. And all this after Brive had led 10-3
following their 11th-minute penalty try.
The
disappointed home crowd made their feelings known as the
game slipped away in the second half, and not even the
arrival of Goode and Perry as late replacements could spark
a revival.
It
capped a troubled week for Brive following the resignation
on Monday of honorary president Patrick Sebastien, who cited
irreconcilable differences with the club’s new owners.
"At
half-time we got a little tense," admitted head coach
Laurent Seigne afterwards. Full-back Fabrice Estebanez also
confirmed that players' nerves undermined their efforts.
"After making a good first half we returned in the second
with the fear of losing. I think we still have a great team
to bounce back and do something.
"I feel
a great frustration and I understand the supporters' anger.
They are rightly disappointed and I agree totally with their
disappointment," he said.
Stade
Francais also lost at ‘home’, although in their case it was
in front of more than 75,000 fans at the Stade de France as
they went down 14-20 to champions Perpignan. James Haskell
came within inches of a late score which could have earned
the draw, but the Parisians were denied at the death by the
Catalans’ resolute defence.
It had
all started so differently with Scottish international
full-back Hugo Southwell scoring the game’s opening try for
Stade after 18 minutes, but they were 5-10 down by half-time
after Maxime Mermoz’s response, coupled with five points
from the boot of Jérôme Porical.
Perpignan’s full-back added another penalty after the break
before scoring the game’s decisive try in the 57th
minute as they capitalised on rare poor defending from Stade
Francais.
Julien
Dupuy’s 64th-minute penalty – his third of the
afternoon – raised hopes of a fightback, especially when
coupled with Henry Tuilagi’s yellow-card, but the champions
held out for a morale-boosting away win.
The loss
ended the Paris club’s six-match unbeaten run under new
coach Jacques Delmas, and also continued their curse at the
Stade de France, where they failed to win any of their four
relocated matches last season.
"Perpignan were extremely efficient and very pragmatic,
unlike us," said Delmas. "We seemed inhibited at the
beginning of the game and if we had started as we finished
we had the means to win."
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