Top 14: Michalak off target as Toulouse struggle; Perpignan move up to second

16 November 2008

Montpellier 26	Stade Francais 13
Castres 26	Mont-de-Marsan 3
Bourgoin 9	Bayonne 13
Toulouse 19	Toulon 18
Dax 20	Montauban 20
Brive 18	Clermont 16
Perpignan 27	Biarritz 12

Struggling Toulon came within a whisker of pulling off a major shock at Toulouse before Gaffie Du Toit rescued the home side with match-winning last-minute penalty.

The South African scored twice in the final seven minutes as the defending champions rallied from 18-13 down.

Their win, secured despite a miserable return to action for prodigal son Freddie Michalak, moved them three points clear at the top after Stade Francais’ had earlier slumped to their third successive defeat (see report).

Michalak was making his first appearance since returning for a year away in South Africa, but he missed four penalties and a conversion as the league leaders floundered for fluency with so many internationals absent from the Stade Ernest Wallon.

His kicking profligacy helped Toulon hang on to a five-point half-time lead until seven minutes from the end, when Du Toit landed the first of his two late penalties.

New Zealander Orene Ai’i was Toulon’s star player, adding a drop-goal, penalty and conversion to his own 20^th-minute try as the visitors opened up a 13-8 advantage at the interval.

But former All Black scrum half Byron Kelleher hauled Toulouse back in the match when he took three defenders over the line with him to score in the 64^th minute, adding to Florian Fritz’s earlier try.

That levelled the game at 13 apiece, but the home side were forced to rely on Du Toit’s late kicks for the victory after former Australian rugby league player Luke Rooney went over for Toulon with only 12 minutes left on the clock.

They still led 18-16 in the final minute before Du Toit’s rescue act, but were already down to 14 men by then with Joe van Niekerk having been yellow-carded.

The result may have been harsh on Tana Umaga’s valiant visitors – it also left them level on points with 13^th-placed Bourgoin - but Toulouse will be delighted to have emerged unscathed with more than half of their team away representing France and various other nations.

The narrow nature of their victory did, however, allow Perpignan to move level with them at the top after their bonus-point 27-12 win against Biarritz on Saturday evening.

The Catalans – who are still threatening to withdraw from the Heineken Cup over Marius Tincu’s 18-week ban – ran in three tries as they eased to victory at the Stade Aime Giral.

Dimitri Yachvili kicked the visitors into an early lead with his fourth-minute penalty, but Perpignan responded with a Damien Chouly try and eight points from the boot of Mele as they soon opened up a 13-3 advantage.

Adrien Plante and Julien Candelon added further tries after the interval, with Mele converting on both occasions as the hosts secured their attacking bonus point.

Yachvili kicked all of Biarritz’s points in return, but the visitors never threatened an upset as they slipped to their fifth defeat.

That results means the top two have now opened up a three-point gap over closest rivals Bayonne, now in third place following Stade Francais’ 26-13 demise at Montpellier on Friday evening.

Bayonne, who began the day in fourth spot, recorded their eighth win of an increasingly successful campaign with a hard-fought 13-9 victory at Bourgoin. Fijian wing Filimone Bolavucu scored the game’s only try midway through the first half, with Manny Edmonds’ boot doing the rest as he added three penalties and a conversion.

Incredibly, Bayonne find themselves in the top two despite an aggregate points deficit of -5.

Last year’s runners-up Clermont continued with their indifferent form, however, as they went down 18-16 at Brive to slip to their fifth loss of the season already.

Their bete noir today was former Leicester Tigers fly-half Andy Goode who kicked all of his side’s points, including penalties in the 71^st and 74^th minutes to snatch the win.

Elvis Vermeulen scored the game’s only try when he touched down five minutes after the restart to put Clermont momentarily 13-9 up, before Goode began to haul them methodically back in.

Meanwhile, down at the other end of the table, Castres won the basement battle as they swept aside bottom club Mont-de-Marsan 26-3.

All Black flanker Chris Masoe made an impressive debut for the home side, but it was Samoan number eight Josefa Tekori who took the plaudits with a two second-half tries. Romain Teulet also kicked 16 points to ensure the victory, which lifted them above Toulon and finally out of the relegation zone.

In the other match on Saturday afternoon Dax’s Neumi Nanuku scored a late try as they fought back to grab a 20-20 home draw with Montauban, after Julien Audy and Yohann Audrina had both gone over for the visitors.

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