At the opening of the 13th day of the Top 14, Racing 92 wore down Montauban before winning with the offensive bonus (61-16) to return to victory in the championship.
The Racing 92 ends the year 2025 on a good note. After the defeat in Toulouse then the draw on the Stade Français pitch, Patrice Collazo’s players took advantage of the return to the Paris-La Défense Arena to move forward in the Top 14. To do this, they signed a large victory against Montauban during the opening match of “Boxing Day” but this success took a little time to take shape. From the outset, the Ciel-et-Blancs appeared threatening with a five-meter penalty taken manually. However, a forward kick ruined this first testing opportunity. Both teams were clumsy but it ended after a quarter of an hour of play.
At the end of a long sequence of possession, Léo Carbonneau was able to extend his pass towards Shingi Manyarara on the right wing. The third line took advantage of the disorder in the Montalban defense to flatten the first try of the match, transformed by Ugo Seunes. A score advantage that held… two minutes. Once again on the attack, the Racingmen saw their ball transmissions become predictable. Sikumbuzo Notshe then intercepted the ball then quickly shifted Maxime Esppeut. The USM center showed his speed to go alone to queen, Thomas Fortunel then putting the two teams back on par.
A mishap which did not raise doubts about Racing 92. In the middle of the first act, after a breakthrough from Geronimo Prisciantelli, Léo Carbonneau surprised the entire Montauban defense.
Montauban played strong
Instead of playing wide, he shifted Wilfried Hulleu with a well-felt chistera. The latter then only had to finish to put the Ile-de-France residents in front by five points, Ugo Seunes missing the corner conversion. Touched but not sunk, the Montalbanais got their hands on the ball but their efforts were only rewarded with a penalty from Thomas Fortunel after half an hour of play. The end of the first period saw Selestino Ravutaumada stand out. He first followed a restart from Geronimo Prisciantelli and a relay from Ugo Seunes before breaking through the Montauban defense to try. In the process, he provided valuable support to Josua Tuisova before scoring a double. Except that this achievement was refused to him after video refereeing for an obstruction.
Thomas Fortunel then added three points on the penalty to bring USM to six points at halftime. A gap that the Montalbanese striker once again reduced from the restart but
these three points were the last for the Tarn-et-Garonne club in this meeting. In the process, Vladi Ashvetia put Racing 92 on the path to the offensive bonus with his team’s fourth try. The Georgian center concluded an offensive initiated by Josua Tuisova coming off the sidelines before seeing Ugo Seunes convert. Patrice Collazo then began opening his sidelines with notably the first appearance in her new colors of Taniela Tupou.
Tupou and Carbonneau made Racing 92 take flight
After having been in charge earlier in this meeting,
Léo Carbonneau went for his try at the start of the last half hour. The scrum half was able to improve a recovery ball to give the Ile-de-France residents even more margin. Taniela Tupou then made her first attempt in Ciel-et-Blanc, forcing the passage at the end of a succession of upwind games. The waves multiplied against a Montauban defense which was unable to stop them. Léo Carbonneau took advantage of a play at the foot of Geronimo Prisciantelli after a quickly played penalty to score his double, imitated eight minutes later by Taniela Tupou.
The Australian international pillar once again forced the pass from close range to reinforce the announced victory of Racing 92.
Seven minutes from the siren, Nathan Hughes went to flatten the ninth and final Ile-de-France tryhaving followed a breakthrough from Taniela Tupou to cross the line in a second stage. The Montalbanais pushed to try to save the honor but they only retreated before giving in, ending the match themselves by sending the ball into touch. With this very large victory (61-16), Racing 92 temporarily regains its place in the Top 6. Beaten for the fifth time in a row, Montauban cannot protect itself from an exploit from Perpignan.
