Top 14: Castres draw at Racing to regain lead; Toulon stun Toulouse with 6-3 win

20 February 2010

Castres have regained the Top 14 lead despite a last-ditch penalty by Jonathan Wisniewski denying them victory away to fellow high-flyers Racing-Métro 92.

The visitors fought back from 18-9 down at half-time after tries from Francois Steyn and Henry Chavancy had put the Parisians in charge, with Wisniewski also chipping two penalties and a conversion.

Castres full-back Romain 'Robocop' Teulet kept the away side in contention with two of his team's three first-half penalties, and he went on to add four more and a drop-goal after the interval as they looked to clock a significant away victory.

The last of his seven successful kicks came six minutes from time to put Castres 24-21 ahead, but Wisniewski had the last word as he landed an injury time reply that left both teams with a share of spoils. But their frustration at being denied the win was then tempered by news that morning leaders Perpignan had gone down 16-13 away to Montauban, thus enabling Castres to re-take the summit by a solitary point.

Top 14 Table  / Top 14 leading scorers / Top 14 Results / Top 14 Fixtures / Top 14 Transfers

Perpignan's latest lapse was their seventh on the road so far this season and owed much to a spirited first-half performance from Montauban that saw them open up A 13-3 advantage shortly before the interval.

Perpignan fly-half Nicolas Laharrague opened the scoring with a 10th-minute penalty after two earlier misses, but Montauban responded with 13 points of their own in 13 minutes, sparked by Rida Jaouher's try. Fly-half Cédric Rosalen kicked the resultant conversion and two subsequent penalties as the home side utilised the strong tail win, but Perpignan battled back with a penalty try four minutes before half-time, with Laharrague adding the extras.

Two yellow cards then hampered the Catalans' efforts after the restart with Perry Freshwater and Gavin Hume both being sin-binned before the hour mark. Laharrague's 55th-minute drop-goal managed to earn parity in-between, but Rosalen's 59th-minute penalty proved the winner as Marc Raynaud's team held on for a vital home win in their battle to avoid being dragged into the relegation zone.

Perpignan's defeat saw the morning leaders slip from first to third as they were overtaken by both Castres and Clermont Auvergne, with the latter edging second spot on points difference after smashing basement boys SCA Albi 45-18.

Vern Cotter's outfit ran in seven tries at the Stade Marcel Michelin, including two in the opening five minutes as they put Albi to the sword. Former Springbok centre Marius Joubert was first over, just three minutes into his latest comeback after five months out injured, before Alexandre Lapandry followed in shortly after for try number two.

Albi winger Antony Poujol did manage to claim a try back for the visitors on 16 minutes, but Loic Jacquet, Alexandre Audebert and scrum-half Kevin Senio all crossed for Clermont before half-time as they cruised into a 31-11 lead.

Prop Lionel Faure was forced off five minutes after the resumption with a knee injury, but his replacement Vincent Debaty wasted no time making an impact and surged over for Clermont's sixth try just two minutes after coming on. Senio then doubled his own tally just before the hour mark, with fly-half Brock James kicking his fifth conversion to make it 45-11.

Albi's Romanian full-back Lulian Dumitras claimed the game's final try, 14 minutes from time, to leave the final score 45-18, but it was a case of job well done for the hosts as they registered a bonus-point win to take lift them just one point behind leaders Castres in an increasingly congested top three.

But there is now a five point gap after those three back to fourth-placed Stade Toulousain after Guy Noves' team lost 3-6 at home to Toulon - their second successive home reverse following their recent 16-15 loss to Clermont Auvergne.

Toulouse went into the match missing eight French internationals and their stuttering play belied their lack of cohesion as they failed to find their usual fluid form. A dogged first half ended scoreless, but the hosts only had themselves to blame for that after missing four pots at goal via the combined boots of David Skrela and Florian Fritz.

Skrela did finally break the deadlock when he landed a 46th-minute penalty, but Toulon fired back through two Felipe Contepomi penalties in seven minutes as the visitors dug in for a crucial away win that further strengthened their play-off ambitions.

The other big winners in round 20 were play-off hopefuls Biarritz and Stade Francais, with both making up ground on the top six after victories against Brive and Bourgoin respectively.

Biarritz kicked their way to a 12-6 home win against Brive on Friday night as they struggled to free their backs on a wet and windy evening down on the Basque coast.

The two sides were tied 3-3 at half-time with Fabrice Estebanez landing a 36th-minute penalty to cancel out Valentin Courrent's earlier effort, but Biarritz pulled clear when they clocked nine points in 13 minutes soon after the restart. Courrent lifted them six points up with a brace of penalties in the 50th and 53rd minutes, before Julien Peyrelongue slotted a 63rd-minute drop-goal to make it 12-3.

Brive narrowed the gap to six points when Estebanez kicked a 66th-minute penalty and the Limousin club came close to nicking it a the end as they mounting pressure almost resulted in a late try. But Biarritz just did enough to seal the victory that saw them move within a point of their opponents as the race for the play-offs hots up, although they remain in ninth spot.

Stade Francais' win was a more dramatic affair entirely, with French winger Julien Arias grabbing a hat-trick of tries as they rallied from 13-0 down to beat Bourgoin 22-16 - in the process registering their maiden away win in Top 14 this season.

Bourgoin began brightly with their powerful pack demolishing Stade's to such an effect that they earned a ninth-minute penalty try, which Benjamin Boyet duly converted. The home side's fly-half added a penalty two minutes later to make it 10-0, but then missed with a drop-goal and two further penalty attempts before finally finding the target again on the half hour.

At that point Bourgoin led 13-0 and looked on target for a valuable home win that would keep them above the drop zone, while Stade (who were down to 14 men after Mathieu Blin's needless yellow card) were staring at the possibility of being cut adrift from the diminishing prospect of a top six finish. But all that began to change when Arias raced in for his opening try on 31 minutes.

Lionel Beauxis, restored to fly-half, missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty as Stade upped the ante, and scrum-half Noel Oelschig was equally profligate with two penalty misses of his own either side of the break before Arias ran in for try number two on 45 minutes.

This time Beauxis was on target as Stade cut the lead to a single point, and a 58th-minute penalty then saw the visitors claim the lead for the first time in the match. It remained 13-15 until five minutes from time, when Arias then sealed the win with his try of the afternoon. Beauxis again added the extras, although Bourgoin's Alberto Di Bernardo did manage a late penalty to at least earn the hosts a defensive bonus.

But the defeat proved costly for Bourgoin nonetheless, as they slipped back into the relegation zone after Bayonne scrapped their way to a crucial 22-16 away win at Montpellier that saw them climb up to 12th spot.

The battling Basques registered their fourth win in five games under new head coach Christian Gajan, with Rob Linde, Benjamin Fall and Sam Gerber all scoring tries as they (like Stade) registered their first away success of the season. They were only denied an attacking bonus by Alistair Campbell's 64th-minute try in response for Montpellier, but will more than settle for the victory that lifts them one point above Bourgoin and finally out of the dreaded drop-zone.

© Copyright FrenchRugbyClub.com. All rights reserved.