Top 14: Toulouse third after derby win; Brive ease pressure with victory at Montpellier

28 November 2009

Stade Toulousain climbed up to third spot in Top 14 after a hard-fought 17-12 home win against derby rivals Montauban.

The hosts were outscored by two tries to one, but the combined boots of Frédéric Michalak (three pens) and Nicolas Bezy (one pen) completed the job as they fought back from 6-12 down shortly after half-time.

Michalak kicked Stade into an early 3-0 lead with his sixth-minute penalty, but Montauban replied with a breakout 90m try on debut from South African fly-half Leonard Olivier. The former Natal Sharks utility back then dusted himself down to kick the conversion as well.

Fijian winger Vilimoni Delasau came within 10m of a repeat effort just two minutes later as the home side struggled to contain Montauban's counter-attacking threat.

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A second Michalak penalty reduced the arrears on 34 minutes before Montauban then lost two of their back row to yellow cards as Emmanuel Etien and the visitors' English captain Mathew Clarkin were both sin-binned for separate offences shortly before half-time.

But just when you expected Stade to come out with all guns blazing against 13-man Montauban they were undone yet again, this time with full-back Julien Laharrague going over for the visitors' second try just two minutes after the restart. Olivier missed this time with the conversion as it remained 6-12.

The home side finally raised their game in the face of a looming crisis, with Yves Donguy going close before 19-year-old centre Rémi Lamerat powered over from close range on 50 minutes after a Stade scrum had advanced to within two metres of the Montauban line. Michalak's conversion attempt rebounded back of a post - the second time he had found the woodwork - but he was on target 10 minutes later with a 35m penalty as Stade edged into the lead.

Twenty-year-old scrum-half Nicolas Bezy - on as a second-half replacement for Byron Kelleher - further stretched Stade's lead with a 66th-minute penalty,

Stade's joy, or relief, was further enhanced by long-time injured fly-half David Skrela playing the final 25 minutes after coming on as a substitute for his first appearance of the season.

Montauban, conversely, have now lost three consecutive league matches, and six of their last eight in Top 14 as they continue to slide downwards.

The only other game on Saturday afternoon saw struggling Brive pull off a stunning 3-25 win at Montpellier - their first away win of a previously troubled season.

The opening half was largely a tale of missed opportunities as both sides squandered several attempts at goal but Brive finally broke the deadlock when twenty-two-year-old full-back Alexis Palisson touched down in the final minute after an inch-perfect cross-kick from Fabrice Estebanez and a timely pass from Nicolas Jeanjean.

Montpellier had gone into the match on a club-record run of four successive wins in Top 14 but form counted for nothing as Brive continually picked them off after the break. Two Palisson penalties edged them 0-11 ahead by the hour mark and the home side's travails were encapsulated when Thiéry Brana's attempted try was denied after television referrals as he failed to ground the ball under pressure from Antonie Claassen.

Olivier Sarraméa did eventually get them on the scorecard with his 62nd-minute penalty, but Brive winger Vili Waqaseduadua then intercepted a wayward pass on the halfway line before cruising in under the posts for the away side's second try.

Luciano Orquera added the extras and was on target again two minutes from time when man-of-the-match Palisson stole in for their final try after yet another interception - this time from Brana.

The win was only Brive's fifth of the campaign, but remarkably means they have now taken 10 points from their two encounters with Montpellier this season. the result also lifted them above Montpellier into the relative comfort of ninth position.

On Friday Castres claimed the outright lead of Top 14 after thrashing a disappointing Biarritz 34-6 at the Stade Pierre Antoine.

Tries from Matthieu Nicolas, Yoan Audrin and Ibrahim Diarra added to 16 points from the boot of full-back Romain Teulet as the home side racked up their second successive five-pointer, following last week’s 30-10 demolition of Stade Toulousain.

This latest victory was their ninth in 14 league games and saw them move five points clear of defending champions Perpignan, who aren't in action this weekend after their away match at Bayonne was cancelled due to yet another outbreak of the H1NI (swine flu) virus.

Teulet had outscored Biarritz’s Dimitri Yachvili by four penalties to two before tries either side of half time from Nicolas and Audrin saw the hosts pull 24-6 clear. Yachvili’s 51^st-minute yellow card confirmed Biarritz’s woes and Castres then sealed their superiority with Diarra’s try on the hour as they claimed another bonus-point win.

Former All Black Chris Masoe enjoyed an excellent game for the division’s pace-setters and their scoring was completed when replacement Thomas Bouqué sent over a last-minute penalty to round off another superb home win for the men of Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit.

With just three defeats in 14 games they are deservedly top of the pile, especially after a run of games which has seen them take on Perpignan, Clermont Auvergne, Stade Toulousain and Biarritz in successive rounds.

It also completed a notable league double over the Basques following their opening-day 24-12 victory in Biarritz.

Elsewhere on Friday, Jonny Wilkinson kicked 17 points as Toulon beat Stade Francais 22-18 in Paris to claim fourth spot in Top 14.

The returning England fly-half notched four penalties, a drop-goal and a conversion as Philippe Saint-André’s team rallied from 11-3 down to inflict Stade’s third home defeat of the season.

The Parisians had started positively enough with former Newcastle winger Ollie Phillips scooting over for the game’s opening try after just two minutes. His latest score continued a rich vein of form for Phillips as he touched down for his fourth try in eight league matches - and his fifth overall for Stade this season - but for the second week in succession it ultimately proved in a losing cause.

Fly-half Noel Oelschig was off target with his conversion attempt, allowing Wilkinson to narrow the gap to two points when he slotted a seventh-minute penalty in reply.

These two sides had drawn 22-22 in Toulon on the opening day of the season and it was clear this would be another close battle as Stade attempted to overcome the handicap of missing upwards of 15 players due to injuries and international calls. They even handed a Top 14 debut to former Nottingham youngster Charlie Davies, with the 19-year-old getting a rare start at scrum-half.

Oelschig kicked six more points – via a drop-goal and penalty – to push Stade 11-3 ahead but with half-time approaching Toulon got reward for a determined forward effort when winger Christian Loamanu touched down in the corner. Wilkinson added the conversion and then snuck over an opportunistic drop-goal with the final touch of the half as Toulon went in 13-11 ahead.

The England fly-half was temporarily dazed after a bruising encounter with Stade centre Mathieu Bastareaud, but the 30-year-old subsequently regathered his composure sufficiently to extend Toulon’s lead four minutes later with his second penalty success of the evening.

Stade replied with mounting goal-line pressure and it was no surprise when Bastareaud eventually piled over to bring the scores level after 52 minutes. Oelschig’s corner conversion saw the hosts edge ahead but Wilkinson wasn’t done yet and landed two more penalties (in the 58^th and 75^th minutes) as Toulon battled back for another landmark victory.

The Parisians pushed desperately for a late match-saving score but Loamanu’s last-minute tackle of Julien Arias proved just enough to prevent the replacement winger touching down in the corner in the final minute of a pulsating match.

Saint-André was understandably delighted with the result at the final whistle, but Stade’s latest reverse means they have now won just one of their last four league games, and that was a hard-fought 23-18 home victory against basement club SCA Albi.

The latter were also in action on Friday night and managed to claim a defensive bonus point after narrowly losing 9-6 away to Racing-Métro 92.

The kickers grabbed all the points in a generally disappointing game, with Racing’s All Black veteran Andrew Mehrtens claiming three successful penalties on his recall to the Paris side.

Fellow Kiwi Blair Stewart replied with his own brace for Albi, but Racing did just enough to earn their sixth successive league win which saw them leapfrog Paris rivals Stade Francais and climb to sixth position.

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