Wrap: Top 14, Round 14 surprises

Wow! This was certainly a Top 14 round of surprises. It started staidly enough on Friday night but Saturday was topsy turvy.

It was not just that bottom-feeders Biarritz and Bordeaux-Bègles won but it was the size of their victories which made the surprise huge.

And Montpellier's win over Racing was even more comprehensive than the score suggests.

Lyon did well to draw with Clermont but that did not get them away from the relegation zone.

Hopes that Perpignan were on a revival road were dashed when Castres smashed them

At 67 minutes in Biarritz, Bakkies Botha came on for Toulon. He went straight into a scrum at which Biarritz destroyed his side.

Results, Round 14:

Not a home team lost.

Biarritz vs Toulon, 25-6
Agen vs Brive, 15-9
Bordeaux-Bègles vs Stade Français, 39-6
Castres vs Perpignan, 33-6
Lyon vs Clermont, 6-6
Montpellier vs Racing Métro, 29-14
Toulouse vs Bayonne, 30-15

Log after Round 14:

The biggest beneficiary is Bordeaux-Bègles who are up three places after the massive win over Stade Français who like Toulon, Racing-Métro, Perpignan, Brive and Bayonne, have slipped a place.

Despite its victory, Biarritz is still at the bottom but the way they played suggests much, much better things to come.

Bordeaux-Bègles and Lyon have each still got a game in hand.

1 Toulouse 51
2 Clermont 46
3 Castres 40
4 Toulon 39
5 Agen 36
6 Stade Français 34
7 Racing Métro 34
8 Montpellier 31
9 Bordeaux 26
10 Perpignan 25
11 Brive 24
12 Bayonne 22
13 Lyon 20
14 Biarritz 19

Match details:

Montpellier vs Racing-Métro at Stade Yves du Manoir (Montpellier)

Montpellier were far and away the better of the two sides but the eccentric try Racing scored with two minutes to go deprived them of a bonus point.

Racing scored first and last but in between the tries belonged to Montpellier and both of the visitors' tries were against the run of play.

The first try was against the run of play. Racing switched play from a line-out and Julien Saubade had a darting run down the right wing. They went left and Rémi Vaquin stormed past Mamuka Gorgodze to score. 7-0 after 8 minutes.

Soon afterwards, Martín Bustos Moyano, whose kicking was not of its usually impeccable standard, goaled a penalty and then Montpellier benefitted from a Racing mistake. At a defensive line-out Thomas Bianchin overthrew and Agustin Creevy, who had an excellent game, got the ball at the back of the line-out and charged at the Racing line. Montpellier bashed until the TMO helped the referee to award a try to Fulgence Ouedraogo. 8-7 after 16 minutes.

Montpellier were close to scoring again when Timoci Nagusa raced for the corner but the score at half-time was 8-7. Racing had in fact done well to keep the score down.

In the second half Montpellier's stepped up the tempo and did especially well by off-loading in the tackle, but they found the Racing defence tough to crack.

Racing were in the Montpellier 22 when Jonathan Wisniewski dropped for goal but François Trinh-Duc charged the kick down. Gorgodze made the running towards the 22 and got the ball to Santiago Fernandez who sent Saubade dashing ahead. The left wing played inside to replacement Lucas Amorosino who raced 65 metres to score. 15-7 after 62 minutes.

After a sharp break by Thomas Combezou and some clever footwork by Bustos Moyano, Fernandez scored the third try.

Racing attacked, Wisniewski grubbered into the 22 and Montpellier counterattacked with many passes till, Pail Bosch was held up over the line. From the subsequent five-metre scrum powerful Masi Matadigo picked up and charged over for the try. 29-7 with five minutes to play and Montpellier in line for a bonus point, but that was not to be as a long, diagonal flykick reached Sireli Bobo on the left touchline. He flykicked twice and then gathered the kind bounce to score.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Tries: Ouedraogo, Amorosino, Fernandez, Matadigo
Cons: B Moyano 3
Pens: B Moyano

For Racing-Métro:
Tries: Vaquin, Bobo
Cons: Wisniewski, Bobo

The teams:

Montpellier:15 Martín Bustos Moyano, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Yoan Audrin, 10 François Trinh-Duc (captain), 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Masi Matadigo, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Drikus Hancke, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Rassie Jansen van Vuuren, 17 Mikheil Natriashvili, 18 Mickaël De Marco, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Benoît Paillaugue, 21 Paul Bosch, 22 Lucas Gonzales Amorosino, 23 Maximiliano Bustos.

Racing-Métro: 15 Juan Martín Hernández, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Virimi Vakatawa, 11 Julien Saubade, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Jacques Cronjé, 6 Rémi Vaquin, 5 Lionel Nallet (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Mikaele Tu'ugahala, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 François Van der Merwe, 19 John Leo'o, 20 Mathieu Lorée, 21 Fabrice Estebanez, 22 Antoine Battut, 23 Juan Pablo Orlandi.

Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Akim Hadj Bachir, Didier Dussaut
TMO: Laurent Valin

Biarritz vs Toulon at Parc Des Sports d'Aguilera

The result was never in doubt and everything said that Biarritz were hungrier the win far more than well-fed Toulon.

Where there was 50-50 ball, Biarritz got it, and they had the splendid example of their scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili who at last got a starting selection and was by miles the best player on the field. His service, quick and accurate, his decision making, the variety in his play and his determination were top drawer.

When Toulon bumbled and bungled under pressure on their line, Biarritz tore into Toulon and Marcelo Bosch, another outstanding player, came close but David Smith forced his way over. 7-0. It was the only try of the match. For 75 minutes no tries were scored, though Biarritz were close on occasion.

Yachvili then kicked three penalties to make the score 16-0, one for a heavy shoulder-charge by Gabriele Lovobalavu on Bosch. Soon afterwards a Bosch bomb into the left corner nearly produced a try. The TMO advised against the try and Toulon defended magnificently to clear.

On the stroke of half-time, Bosch kicked a soaring drop to make the score 19-0.

In the second half Jonny Wilkinson, who was less accurate than usual in the match, kicked two penalties and Yachvili two.

The scorers:

For Biarritz:
Try: Bosch
Con: Yachvili
Pens: Yachvili 5
DG: Bosch

For Toulon:
Pens: Wilkinson 2

The teams:

Biarritz: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Charles Gimenez, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Ilikena Bolakoro, 10 Marcelo Bosch, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Raphaël Lakafia, 7 Benoît Guyot, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Jerome Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Eugene van Staden.
Replacements: 16 Xavier Argagnon, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Florian Faure, 20 Julien Peyrelongue, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Dane Haylett Petty, 23 Thomas Lebrequier.

Toulon: 15 Benjamin Lapeyre, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gabriele Lovobalavu, 11 David Smith, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Fabien Cibray, 8 Jone Tawake, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Joe van Niekerk, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Davit Kubriashvili, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Mickaël Ivaldi, 17 Laurent Emmanuelli, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Christophe Samson, 20 Pierrick Gunther, 21 Geoffroy Messina, 22 Mathew Henjak, 23 Carl Hayman.

Referee: Jérôme Garces
Assistant referees: Jérôme Lamirand, Patrick Beuriot
TMO: Jean-Marie Piraveau

Toulouse vs Bayonne at Stade Ernest Wallon

Toulouse avenged their Round One defeat at the hands of Bayonne by kicking more goals than the Basques and winning 30-15 in a try-less match in Toulouse on Friday night.

Lionel Beauxis kicked all 30 points for Toulouse. Benjamin Boyet actually opened the scoring but by half-time the home side led 15-12.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Pens: Beauxis 8
DGs: Beauxis 2

For Bayonne:
Pens: Boyet 4, Heymans

The teams:

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Romain Millo Chlusky, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Jérémy Falip, 17 Yassin Boutemane, 18 Grégory Lamboley, 19 Sean Sowerby, 20 Jean Marc Doussain, 21 Yannick Jauzion, 22 Timoci Matanavou, 23 Yohan Montes.

Bayonne: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Sam Gerber, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Julien Puricelli, 6 Jean-Joseph Marmouyet, 5 Abdellatif Boutaty, 4 Rob Linde (captain), 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Aretz Iguiniz.
Replacements: 16 François Da Ros, 17 Vitolio Manukula, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Marc Baget, 20 Cédric Garcia, 21 Clément Otazo, 22 Marvin O'Connor, 23 Denis Avril.

Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Sébastien Minery, Sébastien Hebert
TMO: Bruno Bessot

Castres vs Perpignan at Stade Pierre Antoine

Castres, who led 16-0 at the break, scored a bonus point for their tries, two of which were in the last ten minutes.

The scorers:

For Castres:
Tries: Malonga, Kockott, Bernard
Cons: Kockott 2, Teulet
Pens: Kockott 4

For Perpignan:
Pens: Hook 2

The teams:

Castres: 15 Romain Teulet 14 Romain Martial, 13 Thomas Sanchou, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Maxwell Evans, 10 Seremaia Bai, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Steeve Malonga, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Anton Peikrishvili.
Replacements: 16 Marc Rallier, 17 Saimone Taumoepeau, 18 Jannie Bornman, 19 Yannick Caballero, 20 Thierry Lacrampe, 21 Pierre Bernard, 22 Paul Bonnefond, 23 Karena Wihongi.

Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Rudi Coetzee, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Farid Sid, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Gerrie Britz, 6 Bertrand Guiry, 5 Robins Tchale Watchou, 4 Olivier Olibeau, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jérôme Schuster.
Replacements: 16 Marius Tincu, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Ovidiu Tonita, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Grégory Le Corvec, 21 David Mélé, 22 Gavin Hume, 23 Benoît Bourrust.

Referee: Frank Maciello
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos, Régis Gabard
TMO: Gérard Borreani
 
Bordeaux vs Stade Français at Jacques Chaban-Delmas (Bordeaux)

Five tries to nil! That really is a hiding.

The scorers:

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Lopez, Connor 2, Adams, Madaule
Cons: Reihana 4
Pen: Reihana
DG: Lopez

For Stade Français:
Pens: Contepomi 2

The teams:

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Rafaël Carballo, 13 Julien Rey, 12 Felix Le Bourhis, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Justin Purll, 5 Cameron Treloar, 4 Daniel Leo'o, 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Wayne Avei, 1 Hikairo Forbes.
Replacements: 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 Laurent Delboulbes, 18 Louis Madaule, 19 Adam Jaulhac, 20 Julien Seron, 21 Gérard Fraser, 22 Thierry Brana, 23 Albert Toetu.

Stade Français: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Francis Fainifo, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Jérôme Fillol, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 David Lyons, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Stanley Wright, 2 Aled De Malmanche, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempéré, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Pierre Rabadan, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Jules Plisson, 22 Paul Williams, 23 David Attoub.

Referee: Cyril Lafon
Assistant referees: Stéphane Boyer, Jean-Michel Schutz
TMO: Daniel Gillet
 
Agen vs Brive at Stade Armandie

Brive led 6-3 in this try-less match.

The scorers:

For Agen:
Pens: Barnard 5

For Brive:
Pens: Caminati 2

The teams:

Agen: 15 Silvère Tian, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Junior Palesasa, 12 Miguel Avramovic, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Ueleni Fono, 7 Adri Badenhorst, 6 Jean Monribot, 5 Lisiate Fa'aoso, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Jalil Narjissi, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Semisi Telefoni, 17 Laurent Cabarry, 18 Damien Lagrange, 19 Marc Giraud, 20 Alexi Bales, 21 Jamie Robinson, 22 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 23 Martin Scelzo.

Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Jacques Boussuge, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Julien Caminati, 10 Mathieu Belie, 9 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 8 Julien Ledevedec, 7 Alexandre Bias, 6 Simon Azoulai, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Retief Uys, 3 Patrick Barnard, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Davit Kinchagishvili.
Replacements: 16 Iuri Natriashvili, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Thibault Dubarry, 19 Olivier Caisso, 20 Petrus Hauman, 21 Agustin Figuerola, 22 Riaan Swanepoel, 23 Pablo Cardinali.

Referee: Cédric Marchat
Assistant referees: Nicolas Datas, Benoît Escoubet
TMO: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat

Lyon vs Clermont at Matmut Stadium

Lyon led 3-0 at half-time.

The scorers:

For Lyon:
Pens: Van Gisbergen 2

For Clermont:
Pen: Parra
DG: Skrela

The teams:

Lyon: 15 Mark van Gisbergen, 14 Mosese Ratuvou, 13 Latu Fatafehi, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Xavier Sadourny, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Sisaro Koyamaibole, 7 Juan Leguizamón, 6 Eugene N Zi, 5 Coenie Basson, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Philemon Toleafoa, 2 Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux, 1 Xavier Fiard.
Replacements: 16 Antonio Testa, 17 Guram Kavtidze, 18 Arnaud Dorier, 19 Gerald Gambetta, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Nicolas Raffault, 22 Régis Lespinas, 23 Anthony Roux.

Clermont: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benoît Cabello, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Raphaël Chaume, 18 Loïc Jacquet, 19 Elvis Vermeulen, 20 Kevin Senio Gonzalo Canale, 21 Brock James, 22 Gonçalo Canale, 23 Danie Kotze.

Referee: Salem Attalah
Assistant referees: Christophe Labaune, Bruno Fiche
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure