Top 14 Wrap & Tries of the Weekend
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Montpellier 43-20 Toulon - Altrad Stadium, Sunday, 3:50pm
Montpellier's encouraging start to the Top14 campaign continued on Sunday as they had far too much power at their disposal for Toulon, winning 43-20 at Altrad Stadium. Tries from Aaron Cruden, Paul Willemse, Nemani Nadolo, a penalty try, Joe TOmane and Frans Steyn ensured a third bonus-point victory at home for Vern Cotter's Galacticos.
Chris Ashton touched down for his third try of the season following a summer move from Saracens & Josua Tuisova was once again on the scoresheet to continue his red-hot form. Montpellier led 17-10 at half-time with opening tries from Cruden & Nadolo after Tuisova had given Toulon an early lead.
A blistering final quarter from Montpellier put the game to bed, four tries from the 60-minute mark displayed their quality, a secondleague defeat for Toulon leaves them languishing in seventh.
All Black summer recruit, Aaron Cruden, opened his try-scoring account for the club!
Racing 92 25-13 Oyonnax - Stade Olympique Yves Du Manoir, Sunday, 11:30am
Racing 92 secured their third win in four games as they dispatched Pro D2 victors Oyonnax, winning 25-13 on Sunday. The home side got off to a blistering start scoring a penalty and a converted try within the first ten minutes of play. Oyonnax struck back through the trusty left-peg of Ben Botica, but Racing went on to grab two tries of their own before the break.
Virimi Vakatawa, playing at outside centre on the day, finished off a sweeping back-line move for the Parisians before Marc Andreu touched down after some neat offloading as they led 22-3 at the break.
Former Quins' fly-half Botica struck early in the 2nd half with his 2nd penalty of the game to reduce the scoreline to 22-6. Quentin Lecoq cut the gap on 54 minutes with a well-taken try.
Racing defended resolutely in the final 15 minutes to grind out victory and take the four points on offer.
Clermont 62-6 Brive - Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin, Saturday, 7:30pm
Clermont dominated proceedings at the Stade Marcel-Michelin on Saturday night as they ran out resounding 62-6 winners against Brive.
Les Jaunards went into half-time 20-6 ahead thanks to tries from Damian Penaud and David Strettle.
The reigning champions exploded into top gear in the second half as Alivereti Raka scored a stunning hat-trick of tries after Sisa Koyamaibole had been sin-binned for the away side. Camille Gerondeau and Patricio Fernandez completed the rout for Franck Azema's charges.
Brive's last visit to Clermont resulted in a shock 26-21 victory for the visitors, but those days seem a long time ago with Nicolas Godignon’s men struggling for form at the start of 2017/18.
Pau 28-13 Castres - Stade du Hameau, Saturday, 5pm
Pau maintain their unbeaten record at Stade du Hameau as Watisoni Votu scored another double helping the home side register a second consecutive victory.
Simon Mannix's charges struggled in their opening two matches away to Toulou and Toulouse, but back-to-back home wins have seen his side turn over a new leaf.
Pau went into the break 13-6 behind to their opponents, but that helped to rejuventate the side as Votu crossed the whitewash twice in 10 second half minutes.
Lyon 49-14 UBB - Matmut Stadium de Gerland, Saturday, 5pm
Lyon ran out convincing winners against Bordeaux for their third Top14 victory of the campaign. Despite losing their perfect start to the season by Pau last weekend, Pierre Mignoni's men dominated the opening forty minutes.
Tries from Toby Arnold and Carl Fearns put Lyon in the driving seat after Lionel Beauxis and Tian Schoeman traded penalties early on.
While Bordeaux had a number of promising passages of play throughout the game Lyon's blitz defence proved too strong for the travelling side.
Alexis Palisson, Thibaut Regard and Julien Puricelli scored in the 2nd half to secure the bonus-point win.
Agen 15-20 La Rochelle - Stade Armandie, Saturday 5pm
La Rochelle got the better of an abrasive Agen outfit to seal a 20-15 victory and move into second place in the Top14.
Patrice Callazo's men had issues with their discipline throughout but they opened the scoring through Steeve Barry's try to take a 7-3 lead.
Australia fly-half Jake McIntyre kicked the hosts into an early lead and once again reduced the lead following the first La Rochelle score.
Brock James restored the four point advantage but Agen slotted another penalty to keep the visitors at bay.
Kini Murimurivalu and another James three-pointer secured the victory for Stade Rochelais until Ignacio Mieres slotted two late penalties, but is was too little too late.
Toulouse 53-17 Stade Francais - Stade Ernest Wallon, Saturday, 1:45pm
Toulouse cruised to a comfortable 36 point winning margin at home against Stade Francais.
The hosts opened the scoring and consistently added to their score from Cheslin Kolbe's opener.
Toulouse played to the whistle, which was evident in the final passages of the game as the home side scored three tries in the last 10 minutes to seal the bonus-point victory.
The win sees Toulouse sit in 5th place after the weekend's action. A courageous effort in defeat to Toulon the previous weekend displayed Ugo Mola's side are beginning to become genuine title contenders.
