On the occasion of the multiplex of the 18th day of Top 14, Toulouse reinforced its leading place by crushing Vannes in the extreme match. His dolphin Toulon, on the other hand, fell in Lyon, while Montpellier beat Castres and Racing 92 sank at home against Pau.
While waiting for the trip from Bordeaux-Bègles to Perpignan in the evening, the Stade Toulousain comforted its place as a leader of the top 14 after 18 days. The defending champions of France, despite the absence of most of their internationals, have expanded the promoted (and red lantern since the victory of the Stade Français over La Rochelle earlier) Vannes. The Toulousains won 63-21 by marking nine tests. From halftime, mass was already said in favor of the red and black. They led 35-7 thanks to a double of Jack Willis and other tests signed Mathis Castro-Ferreira, Guillaume Cramont, all transformed by Juan Cruz Mallia, while Thomas Moukoro had saved the honor for the Bretons after the mermaid. In the second half, Toulouse was “contented” with four tests, this time marked by Pita Akhi, Thomas Lacumbre, Rodrigue Neti and Ange Cappuozzo, and still all transformed by Mallia. Vannes managed to spin twice in the go, thanks to Stephen Varney and Salesi Rayasi. But that was not enough, far from it, there are now 32 points apart in the classification between the two teams, which clearly do not evolve in the same world.
Toulon woke up too late
Toulon is now eight points behind the leader, after his 27-20 defeat in Lyon, (6th). The Varois went completely next to their first half, where they were led 27-6. If Enzo Hervé had scored two penalties at the start of the match, the Toulonnais, reduced to 14 after the yellow card of Teddy Baubigny, then cashed four tries in twenty minutes, by Camille Chat, Alexandre Tchaptchet and a double of Arno Botha, Léo Berdeu scoring the points in the foot. The RCT woke up in the second half, not getting the slightest point. The Varois marked two tests by Melvyn Jaminet and Jules Danglot in numerical superiority after the yellow card received by Maxime Gouzou. But the awakening turned out to be too late and the UBB will have the opportunity to resume second place in the evening.
Montpellier finds the victory
After three losses in a row, Montpellier (8th) reacted well by beating Castres (5th) in an important match for qualification for the final stages. The MHR won 21-17 thanks in particular to a good first half, won 11-0. Christopher Tolofua marked the only test of the first period, Stuart Hogg and Hugo Reus marking on penalties. Gabriel Ngandebe allowed Montpellier to dig the gap by marking the recovery (18-0). And that’s when Castres decided to wake up. The CO scored two tests, by Santiago Arata and Théo Chabouni, to return to 21-14, then scored a penalty by Jérémy Fernandez, but the MHR managed the end of the match.
Pau pushes Racing 92
An important match for the maintenance took place in Paris La Défense Arena, and Pau took a short step towards a new season in Top 14, by winning 29-47 on the field of Racing 92. During this spectacular meeting, the section led 10-13 at halftime, thanks to a test by Emilien Gailleton and points at the foot of Joe Simmonds, against a test of Samuel Jones and points at the foot of Nolann Garrec. Upon recovery, Vinaya Habosi allowed Racing to pass in front (17-13). But the sky and white then collapsed, taking two tries of Harry Williams and Emilien Gailleton, and three penalties and a drop by Joe Simmonds (17-37). A double from Teddy Tedder allowed Racing to save the honor, but Aaron Grandidier had allowed the section to get closer to the 50 points by scoring three minutes from the end. It is therefore a heavy defeat for the men of Patrice Collazo, who could find himself Barragistes if the USAP does not lose against the UBB. The section is now eight points ahead of the red zone.
