Top 14: Toulouse humiliate Stade Francais; Castres brush off Brive to reclaim the lead

06 March 2010

He dominated the headlines all week but in the end James Haskell was probably thankful that he didn’t play for Stade Francais on Saturday after the Paris side crashed to a humiliating 0-29 'home' defeat at the hands of Stade Toulousain in front of a sold out crowd at the Stade de France.

The loss was their third at home this season and leaves them staring into the abyss of non-qualification for either the Top 14 play-offs or next season’s Heineken Cup. They could yet avoid the latter by surging to European victory this season, but they have the little matter of an away quarter-final against Stade Toulousain to negotiate first, and given this evidence there isn’t much ground for optimism.

The Paris side was simply outplayed throughout by Guy Noves’ team, with former Stade Francais fly-half David Skrela ensuring there was let up by bagging five penalties and two conversions for a 19-point match haul against his old team.

The match didn’t start overly well for Toulouse, with scrum-half Frederic Michalak being stretchered off after just two minutes with what looked a serious knee injury, but replacement Byron Kelleher soon got in the swing of things and helped urge his dominant pack on.

The away side’s relentless pressure brought three successful Skrela penalties in the first half as they opened a 0-9 advantage, and they extended that further soon after the restart when Gregory Lamboley pounced on a testing up and under that England sevens winger Ollie Phillips failed to control.

Skrela kicked the resultant conversion and two more penalties as Toulouse maintained control, with former Saracens prop Census Johnston eventually powering over for their second try 14 minutes from time after good work from Maxime Medard and Yann David.

Skrela’s conversion rounded off the scoring and capped an excellent afternoon for the visitors, but Stade Francais now have a mountain to climb if they’re to reach to top six before the end of the season.

Top 14 leaders Castres put in another impressive performance as they ran in four tries to brush aside an error-strewn Brive 35-10 at the Stade Pierre Antoine.

The visitors made a high energy start but still found themselves 16-0 down after 23 minutes thanks to a trio of Romain Teulet penalties and Iosefa Tekori's opening try, after he waltzed through Brive's static defence.

Australian centre Lachlan Mackay got Brive back in the match when he touched down just before the half hour after good work from Davit Kinchagishvili and Luciano Orquera, but Castres replied with their second try just two minutes later as they quickly reclaimed the initiative.

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Teulet's delicate chip and chase proved Brive's undoing this time, with the Castres fly-half becoming the first player this season to pass 200 points in the process. His second successful conversion made it 23-7 at the interval.

An Alexis Palisson penalty reduced the arrears soon after the restart but Brive then paid for their continual transgressing, with Simon Azoulay's yellow card initiating a crucial 10-minute spell that proved decisive to the game's outcome.

Castres seized on their numerical advantage, running in two tries in three minutes as inside centre Pierre-Emmanuel Garcia and former All Black flanker Chris Masoe both crossed for scores. The latter's was his seventh of a hugely successful season, leaving him as joint leading try-scorer in the entire league.

Teulet converted the first but missed the second - his only blemish on an otherwise highly profitable afternoon that brought a personal reward of 20 points, and also ensured Castres returned above Clermont to the Top 14 summit. Indeed, their bonus-point win lifted them two points clear - doubling their pre-weekend lead.

Brive, on the other hand, now have a mountain to climb if they're to make a late break to qualify for the end of season play-offs.

They are now level on 47 points with Biarritz after the Basques fell to an agonizing 21-20 defeat at Toulon.

The visitors were 8-20 ahead with just 20 minutes remaining as they looked to end Toulon's long unbeaten record at home, but Felipe Contepomi eventually found his kicking boots and teed up a late rally with two successful penalties. Biarritz lost their shape and discipline as Toulon's pressure built to a crescendo, and they ended the match down to 13 men following yellow cards for both Fabien Alexandre and Romain Terrain.

English referee Wayne Barnes nearly gave a 76th-minute penalty try, before replacement hooker Jean-Charles Orioli finally found a way over in the corner just before the end. It still required Contepomi to convert from the touchline, but the Argentine put aside his previous four misses to land a crucial knockout blow to the visitors.

The loss was harsh on Biarritz, especially after tries either side of half-time from Damien Traille and Dimitri Yachvili - both on their returns from injury.

Toulon had started the brighter and were 8-3 up after 22 minutes thanks to Gabriele Lovobalavu's try and an earlier Contepomi penalty, but Biarritz took a grip on the game as they began to dominate leading up to the interval.

Traille was first over, just three minutes shy of the break, with fellow French international Yachvili following in seven minutes after the restart. The feisty scrum-half converted one of his two attempts and then added a penalty 57 minutes as the visitors moved 8-20 ahead. But that was as good as it got for Biarritz as Toulon slowly hauled them in, finally nailing the win with just three minutes left on the clock.

The victory was Toulon's fourth in succession as they further consolidated their play-off hopes, while simultaneously denting the aspirations of their visitors.

Down at the other end of the table there were priceless home wins for Bourgoin and Bayonne as the battle to avoid relegation saw Montauban slide into the drop-zone for the first time this season.

Bayonne climbed from 13th to 11th on the back of their 46-13 thumping of basement club SCA Albi.

Remarkably, the scores were tied 3-3 until the 39th minute before Bayonne hooker Arnaud Heguy finally grabbed the game's opening try. The home side then went on to add five more in the closing 25 minutes, with centre Lionel Mazars claiming two, while the others came from Thierry Lacroix, Sam Gerber and David Roumieu.

The latter two even came after Bayonne had been reduced to 14 men due to Jean-Jo Marmouyet's yellow card - such was the home team's dominance.

The win was Bayonne's fifth in seven games since Christian Gajan became their latest head coach, lifting them out of the dreaded relegation zone with just five more games to play.

Montauban have now dropped down in their place after they lost 22-14 at Bourgoin. The home team went 3-0 up in the third minute courtesy of Benjamin Boyet's early penalty, and they extended that out to 10-3 after quarter of an hour when Wessel Jooste touched down just five minutes after coming on for the injured Thomas Genevois.

Boyet converted and added a 29th-minute penalty, but Montauban rallied through a brace of Leonard Olivier kicks as they went in 13-9 down at half-time.

Coenie Basson's 41st-minute yellow card then put Bourgoin on the back foot, and they slipped behind for the first time in the match when hooker Grégory Arganese powered over for Montauban just two minutes later.

Boyet was then forced off with an injury but his kicking replacement - Alberto di Bernardo - proved a more than adequate stand-in, slotting two late penalties and a drop-goal to seal the 22-14 win.

Bourgoin have now recorded back-to-back victories and their quest for Top 14 survival is beginning to look a whole lot rosier, especially as they travel to bottom club Albi next weekend. The same cannot be said for Montauban though, with Marc Raynaud's team now perilously placed after their seventh defeat in their last 10 league games.

Earlier, on Friday night, defending champions Perpignan went down to their eighth defeat of the season - all away from home - as they were beaten 22-17 at Clermont Auvergne.

The hosts rallied from 6-11 down with a powerful second-half performance initiated by full-back Anthony Floch's  55th-minute try. The strapping 15 also landed an earlier drop-goal, while Australian fly-half Brock James chipped in with three penalties, a drop-goal and a conversion.

The win was enough to send Clermont back to the Top 14 summit, three points ahead of Castres - who are at home to Brive on Saturday. Perpignan, meanwhile, had to settle for a defensive bonus that lifted them (temporarily at least) level on points with Castres. 

Space was at a premium throughout the match, although both teams played with an attacking intent which made this an entertaining and high-paced spectacle. The first half ended all square at 6-6 as try-scoring opportunities were limited, and there was also a yellow card each after props Martin Scelzo and Jérôme Schuster squared up after 17 minutes.

Perpignan fly-half Nicolas Laharrague topped and tailed the opening period with long-range drop-goals, while Clermont's came from a James penalty and Floch drop-goal as both sides had to settle for parity.

The intensity was clearly there as last season's play-off finalists battled it out but the match needed a spark to truly ignite it, and Perpignan hooker Marius Tincu duly obliged with a try just three minutes after the restart. The Romanian charged over from 15 minutes after an excellent spin and off-load from fellow countryman Ovidiu Tonita.

Laharrague was off target with the conversion - as he had been with two first-half penalty attempts - and Clermont's response was to send for the cavalry. Off went scrum half Kevin Senio and props Scelzo and Vincent Debaty, with Morgan Parra, Thomas Domingo and Davit Zirakashvili all arriving to give added impetus.

As Clermont lifted their game Perpignan were forced into errors, with James kicking penalties in 48th and 50th minutes to edge the hosts 12-11 ahead. The ref's patience with the Catalans' constant infringing then finally wore out as number eight Damien Chouly  was sin-binned for holding on, paving the way for a further Clermont onslaught that culminated with Floch's superbly taken 55th-minute try. James' conversion made it 18-11 and left the visitors knowing they had to respond if they weren't to leave empty-handed.

Laharrague's first penalty success reduced the deficit to five points on the hour, and Perpignan were further boosted by the arrival of replacement Maxime Mermoz as he finally made his long-awaited return from injury.

James' 68th-minute drop-goal briefly re-established Clermont's eight-point lead, but scrum-half David Mélé landed a penalty response two minutes later after home flanker Julien Bonnaire had become the fourth player to see yellow.

Both sides pushed for a late try, but this time the defences held firm as it finished 22-17. Perpignan may be disappointed to have collected their eighth defeat of the season - that's three more than during their entire title campaign - but at least they did collect the defensive bonus as they continue to push for a top two finish.

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