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Brive lead Top 14 after Thompson try
helps them to bonus point win against Montpellier
15
August 2009
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On the charge: Brive's Steve
Thompson scored a rare try
© Diarmid Courreges |
| Toulon |
22 |
Stade Francais |
22 |
| Biarritz |
12 |
Castres |
24 |
| Bourgoin |
28 |
Clermont
Auvergne |
37 |
| Montauban |
16 |
Stade
Toulousain |
17 |
| SCA Albi |
13 |
Racing-Metro
92 |
19 |
| Perpignan |
28 |
Bayonne |
20 |
| Brive |
30 |
Montpellier
|
9 |
Brive beat Montpellier
30-9 to become the early Top 14 leaders after being the only
team to register a winning bonus point in the opening round
of games.
England World Cup winning hooker Steve
Thompson set the ball rolling with an 11th minute try after
supporting Fabrice Estebanez's 50m breakaway.
Flanker Vincent Fourges grabbed
Brive's second try shortly after half time and man of the
match Luciano Orquera rounded things off when he sealed the
bonus with his 75th-minute effort.
It
was the cream on the cake for Brive and Orquera, with the
Italian making the most of Andy Goode's absence to claim a
match haul of 20 points via his try, three penalties and
three conversions.
English signings Shaun
Perry (scrum-half) and Jamie Noon (outside centre) both
started for Brive - with the former enjoying a fine game on
debut - but injury prevented new
skipper Alex Popham taking the field.
That won't dent the
Brivistes joy though, as they sit handsomely at the head of
Top 14 (albeit after only one week)
in stark contrast to the
rotten beginning they experienced in 2008/9.
Elsewhere, it may have
been Jo nny
Wilkinson and Toulon who
dominated Friday’s headlines
in Top 14 but it was Bourgoin’s turn to take the
limelight on Saturday, although not for reasons they will wish to
remember.
The 2009
European Challenge Cup finalists were stunned when the DNACG
– the league’s financial watchdog – revoked 14 players’
licenses just hours before their home opening match with
Clermont Auvergne. The DNACG, it appears, are not
convinced about Bourgoin’s ability to finance their stated
€10.2m budget and have therefore blocked until further
notice the licenses of all new recruits – including Alberto
Di Bernardo, Jon Senio and Albert Vuli Vuli – as well as
those who have recently signed new deals.
Top 14 Table 2008/9
/
Top 14 Transfers
/
ProD2 Transfers
/
Top 14
Fixtures 2009/10
/
Pre-season friendlies
The shock
decision continues Bourgoin’s ongoing financial worries,
following on from last year’s €2m shortfall which almost
cost them relegation.
The player
freeze was the last thing they needed before the arrival of
free-scoring Clermont Auvergne, and yet with just under 20
minutes to go they had defied all odds to be leading 23-16.
Rudi Coetzee's
fourth-minute try set them on their way, with fly-half
Benjamin Boyet adding the conversion and two penalties as
they kept pace with Vern Cotter's team. A 13-16 half-time
deficit was full reward for the passionate display, although
Napolioni Nalaga's seventh-minute try gave forewarning of
what was to come.
Bourgoin then took full
advantage of a one-man advantage immediately after the
break, following Thibault Privat's yellow card for punching,
with the forwards earning a 51st-minute penalty try and
Boyet adding another five points with his boot.
Suddenly an almighty upset
seemed on the cards, but
just when a
most unlikely win beckoned ‘Les Jaunards’ found their form
to run in three tries in nine minutes, with the old double
act of Nalaga and Brock James leading the way.
The Fijian
winger – top try-scorer for the past two seasons – added a
second to his first-half effort, while James – top overall
points-scorer for the past three seasons – chipped in with
four conversions, two penalties and a drop-goal.
The win
ultimately gave Cotter plenty to smile about on the day
Clermont also confirmed the signing of former Dax and Fiji
centre Gavin Williams (26) after finally giving up on
Springbok Jaque Fourie.
Defending
champions Perpignan – who beat Clermont in last
year’s final – opened up with a 28-20 home win against
Bayonne, with rookie full-back Armand Battle scoring a
debut try. Scrum-half David Mélé added 14 points with his
boot and a late penalty from replacement fly-half Nicolas
Laharrague ensured the Catalans denied Bayonne a losing
bonus point.
The Basques
had kept in touch through tries from South African Sam
Gerber and former All Blacks lock Ross Filipo (on debut),
but will be ruing the four missed kicks from Cédric Garcia.
Bayonne coach Richard
Dourthe was seething afterwards, lamenting both the
concession of three unnecessary penalties and Garcia's
profligacy. "I'm angry," he admitted. "The score should have
been in our favour. It was too many stupid mistakes, even
unacceptable."
Iain
Balshaw’s new club Biarritz surprisingly slumped to a
24-12 home defeat against Castres to make it a black
day for the Basque country all round.
New signing
Marc Andreu was the Castres hero as the former Toulon winger
marked his debut with a try-double in the first game in
charge for new coaching duo Laurent Labit and Laurent
Travers. Fly-half Cameron McIntyre was also on form, landing
four first-half penalties as Castres began with a superb
away win.
Elsewhere,
17-times champions Stade Toulousain left it late for
their last-ditch 17-16 win at Montauban. Guy Noves’
depleted team were trailing 16-10 when the hooter sounded,
but Argentine lock Patricio Albacete then powered over to
leave Jean-Baptiste Elissalde to win the match with
touchline conversion with the final action of the match.
Elissalde was on at fly-half after Noves’
gamble on Frédéric Michalak’s fitness backfired after just
20 minutes, with the French international limping off
clutching the left hamstring he injured in pre-season.
Montauban,
like Bourgoin, have also fallen foul of the beady-eyed DNACG
and were denied the use of six players while they await
approval from the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). New
Scottish signing Andrew Henderson (who is currently injured)
was among the half dozen, together with Emmanuel Etien,
Mirko Lozupone, Alejandro Campos, Joel Koffi and Maxime Le
Bourhis.
Finally, big-spending Racing-Métro 92
won the battle of the newcomers as they beat SCA Albi
19-13. Sébastien Chabal came off the bench as a second-half
substitute but it was former England international Dan
Scarborough who scored their only try. Young fly-half
Jonathan Wisniewski also chipped in with three penalties and
a conversion as he successfully deputised for Andrew
Mehrtens, who remained in Paris to be with his heavily
pregnant wife.
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