Stade Francais in easy derby win
At glamorous Stade de France on Saturday, Stade Français celebrated a big 29-3 win over their Parisian rivals Racing-Métro. On Saturday, too, Toulouse had too much class for Toulon and Clermont kept Castres in check.
As has become traditional for a Stade Français match at Stade de France, there was a carnival atmosphere with a long and cheerful concert before the golden ball was delivered by a glamorous bar-girl for the kick-off.
The match itself was more one-sided than the score suggests.
The Parisians scored first when Julien Dupuy kicked the easiest of penalty goals, had a try disallowed on the TMO's advice and then scored a try when Pascal Papé scored in a bundle. Felipe Contepomi sent a drop-goal soaring between the pink posts and Dupuy kicked another penalty to make the score 16-0 at half-time.
In the second half Contepomi kicked two penalties and Jérôme Fillol scored an individual try with a sharp break. Racing's only points came from a penalty by Jonathan Wisniewski who was playing fullback.
The scorers:
For Stade Français:
Tries: Papé, Fillol
Cons: Dupuy, Contepomi
Pens: Dupuy 2, Contepomi 2
DG: Contepomi
For Racing-Métro:
Pen: Wisniewski
The teams:
Stade Français: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Paul Williams, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Pierre Rabadan, 6 David Lyons, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements: 16 Aled De Malmanche, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Antoine Burban, 20 Jerome Fillol, 21 Morgan Turinui, 22 Francis Fainifo, 23 Stanley Wright.
Racing-Métro: 15 Jonathan Wisniewski, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Virimi Vakatawa, 11 Julien Saubade, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Bernard Le roux, 6 John Leo'o, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Karim Ghezal, 3 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 2 Benjamin Noirot, 1 Mikaele Tu'ugahala.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 19 Antoine Battut, 20 Sébastien Descons, 21 Joshua Matavesi, 22 Rémi Vaquin, 23 Julien Brugnaut.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Stéphane Pomarède, Thomas Dejean
TMO: Vincent Azoulay
Wilkinson may have scored first for Toulon and kept his side in the hunt in the first half but then he was the only one to score for Toulon while Toulouse scored a bonus-point bag of tries, starting with a burst by their leading try-scorer into the left corner. It ended with a magnificent try by Wallaby Luke Burgess.
At half-time Toulouse led just 13-12.
The scorers:
For Toulouse:
Tries: Matanavou, Clerc, Burgess
Cons: McAlister 2, Doussain
Pens: McAlister 4
For Toulon:
Pens: Wilkinson 4
The teams:
Toulouse: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Gregory Lamboley, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Yohan Montes, 18 Shaun Sowerby, 19 Sylvain Nicolas, 20 Jean Marc Doussain, 21 Yann David, 22 Maxime Médard, 23 Johnson Falefa.
Toulon: 15 Alexis Palisson, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Gabriele Lovobalavu, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 David Smith, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Sébastien Tillous Borde, 8 Jone Tawake, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Leonardo Senatore, 5 Kristian Chesney, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Jean Philippe Genevois, 1 Romain Frou.
Replacements: 16 Sébastien Bruno, 17 Laurent Emmanuelli, 18 Dean Schofield, 19 Pierrick Gunther, 20 Benjamin Lapeyre, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Laurent Magnaval, 23 Davit Kubriashvili.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert, Didier Dussaut
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure
In their Massif-Central stronghold, Clermont were much too good for Castres, winning 33-16 after a late try by Seremaia Bai denied them a try bonus point.
Clermont led 16-9 at half-time.
The scorers:
For Clermont:
Tries: James, Hines, Parra
Cons: James, Parra 2
Pens: Parra 4
For Castres:
Try: Bai
Con: Teulet
Pens: Bernard 3
The teams
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Jason White, 19 Alexandre Audebert, 20 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 21 David Skrela, 22 Regan King, 23 Daniel Kotze.
Castres: 15 Romain Teulet, 14 Romain Martial, 13 Maxwell Evans, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Pierre Gilles Lakafia, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Thierry Lacrampe, 8 Jannie Bornman, 7 Yannick Caballero, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Anton Peikrishvili.
Replacements: 16 Marc Rallier, 17 Michael Coetzee, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Steve Malonga, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Rémi Tales, 22 Seremaia Bai, 23 Karena Wihongi.
Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Christophe Labaune, Sébastien Hebert
TMO: Eric Gonthier