Top 14, round 26: Biarritz seal Heineken qualification, but Brive are left dangling

Biarritz secured a 10^th successive season of Heineken Cup rugby by overcoming Montauban 38-10 to seal fifth spot in Top 14.

The in-form Basques made it 10 wins from 12 thanks to tries from Samiu Vahafolau, Romain Cabannes, Takudzwa Ngwenya and Fabien Cibray at the Parcs des Sports Aguilera.

Scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili chipped in with two conversions and three penalties as the Basques completed their sixth successive victory, with Montauban - who were playing their last game before coaches Laurent Labit and Laurent Travers depart for Castres – limited to scores from Yoan Audrin and Karim Ghezal.

Biarritz’s latest win meant either Brive or Bayonne would be left dangling in sixth place, waiting until the outcome of Bourgoin’s ECC final before finding out whether Heineken Cup rugby would be theirs next season.

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Brive began the day in sixth and knew a win would keep them there, regardless of how Bayonne fared against Stade Francais. All the Limousin club had to do was win at Bourgoin, but with just five minutes to go Morgan Parra dropped an opportunistic drop-goal to put the hosts 19-16 up. But with time running down and Brive hearts on the edge of being broken Andy Goode popped up to land his second drop-goal of the afternoon to earn a share of the spoils.

Goode had also landed two earlier penalties and a in a match which fluctuated throughout. Argentine Horacio Agulla’s sixth-minute try got Brive off to the perfect start, but Benjamin Boyet replied with a try, two penalties and conversion in a 13-point burst that left the scores level at half-time.

Each side then kicked six points each in a tense second-half, leaving Steve Thompson and company to anxiously await the result from the Stade Jean Dauger.

A bonus point win would be good enough to lift Bayonne up to sixth and their prospects looked good as Filimone Bolavucu and Jean-Baptiste Peyras both went over in the opening 25 minutes. Cedric Garcia converted on both occasions and added a further penalty as they home side opened up 17-6 lead shortly before the interval.

Argentine fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez – who had kept Stade Francais in the mix up to then with a brace of penalties – then kicked nine points in three minutes either side of the interval to drag the score back to 17-15.

Marc Baget’s 45^th minute try briefly put Bayonne back on course for the bonus before Pierre Rabadon pulled one back for Stade. Craig Gower then celebrated his Italian call-up by running in Bayonne’s fourth try in 56 minutes, only for Mauro Bergamasco to break their hearts with the Paris club’s second try just nine minutes from time.

Bayonne held on to win 31-27 but the lack of a bonus point meant they finished tied with Brive on 66 points, and missed out on sixth place due to an inferior points differential.

For Stade Francais this latest reverse was their fifth in seven games, and came despite 17 points from the boot of Hernandez. It also means the Paris club finished in fourth place and will now play leaders Perpignan in the play-off semi-finals.

The Catalans ensured top spot with a 32-26 away win at Castres, with fly-half David Mele contributing 18 points – via four penalties and two late drop-goals. Hooker Guilhem Guirado and winger Farid Sid also scored tries, with Castres answering through scores from Rodrigo Capo Ortega and Cameron McIntyre.

The other semi-final will see free-scoring Clermont Auvergne take on defending champions Stade Toulousain in a re-run of last year’s thrilling final.

Clermont wrapped up their preparations by annihilating already relegated Dax 75-3, making it 335 points scored in their last six home games.

After sticking 10 tries past Mont-de-Marsan, they went one better against Dax, running in 11 as they posted the biggest win of Top 14 this season. Fijian try-machine Napolioni Nalaga helped himself to a brace – taking his season’s tally to a record-breaking 20 before being rested after the interval – and there were also two for Toulon-bound scrum-half Pierre Mignoni. Thomas Domingo, Brock James, Gonzalo Canale, Julien Pierre, Alexandre Audebert, Aurélien Rougerie and Anthony Floch were the other scorers, with James also kicking eight of his nine conversion attempts.

Hapless Mont-de-Marsan also bid adieu to Top 14 with another mauling, conceding 10 tries for the second week in succession as they were crushed 60-8 at home by Stade Toulousain.

Florian Fritz, David Skrela, Maxime Medard (2), Vincent Clerc, Cedric Heymans, Gregory Lamboley (2), Clement Poitrenaud and Frederic Michalak all crossed for the defending champions as they tried in vain to catch Perpignan. The bonus point win left them both level on 92 points, but Perpignan narrowly took the honours and will now play Stade Francais.

At least Les Montois managed a try this week, with Timoci Matanavu scoring the home side’s lone effort with a pitch-length breakaway in the final minute.

In the afternoon’s other match prop Saimone Taumoepeau scored twice before a late try from player-coach Tana Umaga crowned Toulon’s 23-3 home win against Montpellier in front of the on-looking director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre.

The win lifted Toulon up above Montpellier into ninth spot as the finished the season impressively with four wins from their last five games.

Umaga’s try was his first since coming out of retirement and afterwards he confirmed that he would like to continue playing next season. “I want to play, I want to be a player,” he told reporters.

Play-offs:
May 29^th - Stade Toulousain v Clermont Auvergne (at Bordeaux)
May 30^th - Perpignan v Stade Francais (at Lyon)