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Top 14: Stade Toulousain win bragging rights and return to the top after 15-11 win

29 March 2009

Stade Toulousain and Stade Francais
A tale of two Stades: Toulousain and Francais
Photos: Michael Paler

Defending Top 14 champions Stade Toulousain saw off the challenge of their Parisian rivals with a 15-11 home win, to complete the league double over Stade Francais.

The win, which followed their 26-13 triumph at the Stade de France back in October, also took them back above temporary leaders Perpignan as they regained top spot.

And it would have been far more convincing but for the misfiring boot of Frederic Michalak, who missed five of his eight penalty kicks. The darling of Stade Toulousain even suffered the indignity of being whistled by his home crowd after his fifth wayward attempt - but even Michalak's profligacy wasn't enough to spare Stade Francais.

Time and again they were penalised by English ref Dave Pearson, eventually paying the penalty as Michalak landed three kicks and Cedric Heymans one - in addition to Florian Fritz's 18th-minute drop-goal.

It all combined to give the hosts a comfortable 15-11 win, with Stade Francais only gaining a consolation defensive point when Mathieu Bastareaud capitalised on a late defensive error to score the game's only try in the 79th minute.

Top 14 Table / Top 14 Fixtures

It was the visitors' second consecutive defeat - after going down 22-16 at Montauban in their last match - and leaves Stade Toulousain seven points clear of their flamboyant rivals.

And all this after Stade Francais had started the night in positive fashion, with discarded French fly-half Lionel Beauxis slotting a first-minute drop-goal to give them an early lead.

Michalak gave no hint of his travails to come when he landed his first attempt, to level the scores after seven minutes, and Fritz then squeezed over his own drop-goal to ease the hosts ahead.

Pearson's whistle continued to frustrate Stade Francais, but Michalak missed with his next three attempts, allowing Beauxis to make it 6-6 going into half-time.

Shaun Sowerby (Toulouse) and Bastareaud (Francais) both saw yellow just before the interval after a minor altercation, and the home side regained the lead shortly after the restart when Michalak finally found the target again.

 

His fifth miss, on 56 minutes, broke the home crowd's patience, but the Stade Toulousain scrum-half did extend their lead again eight minutes later as the capital club continued to infringe to costly affect.

Heymans then secured the result by landing a 71st-minute penalty and even though Bastareaud scored a late try (in the 79th minute) it merely served to give the frustrated visitors a defensive bonus point. Beauxis missed the conversion.

  Stade Toulousain Stade Francais
Tries - Bastareaud
Conversions - -
Penalties Michalak (3), Heymans Beauxis
Drop-goals Fritz Beauxis

 

 
 
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