Tag: Rugby

Australia recovered from a sizeable 31-7 deficit at the interval to defeat Argentina 45-34 in their Rugby Championship clash in Salta on Saturday.

The visitors, who scored through Michael Hooper, Izack Rodda, Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty (2) and David Pocock, avoid the wooden spoon, thus handing bottom spot to the Pumas, who will rue how they let slip that buffer at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.

Argentina’s try-scorers were Pablo Matera, Emiliano Boffelli, Matias Orlando and Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias in what was a game of two halves.

It was a dream opening 40 for the Pumas as they went in with that handy 31-7 cushion thanks to four tries, with Australia’s defence in pieces.

The Wallabies were slipping off tackles – 17 in total during the first stanza – and Argentina made them pay, starting in the second minute when Matera hit a superb line before racing over. The conversion from Nicolas Sanchez made it 7-0 and it was 14-0 a couple of minutes later as Reece Hodge’s pass was intercepted and full-back Boffelli eventually finished off the breakaway score.

However, Australia did respond on 14 minutes thanks to a well worked over-the-top line-out move that saw Hooper go over from recycled ball.

The visitors needed to build on that but instead it was the Pumas who scored next as Orlando crashed over, after another good Matera carry. The lead grew further shortly after on 31 minutes as Gonzalez Iglesias scored a fine individual try immediately after coming on.

Gonzalez Iglesias, who had replaced the injured Sanchez, would add a penalty before the break to make it a 24-point advantage to the hosts.

The first try of the second period was always going to be crucial so when Gonzalo Bertranou’s box kick was charged down and ended up with Rodda crossing under the posts, the Wallabies had hope of a potential fightback, Foley’s extras making it 31-14 on 45 minutes.

Australia looked re-energised and continued to chip away at the lead four minutes later when Folau’s slick try thanks to a great line made it 31-21. Two minutes after that the lead was down to three points as Haylett-Petty’s finish on the left touchline piled the pressure on the Pumas.

A penalty from Gonzalez Iglesias on the hour helped ease the tension in Salta but it was short relief as Pocock crashed over three minutes later, with the conversion from Foley nudging the Wallabies 35-34 in front. It was the first time Australia had held the lead in the game.

That advantage grew to eight points as Australia’s sixth try soon followed, this time from a cross kick that led to Haylett-Petty scoring. And with Foley slotting his second penalty of the game on 75 minutes, the loss of Tolu Latu to the sin-bin late on did not impact on the result as Australia sealed an unlikely comeback win.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries: Matera, Boffelli, Orlando, Gonzalez Iglesias
Cons: Sanchez 3, Gonzalez Iglesias
Pens: Gonzalez Iglesias 2

For Australia:
Tries: Hooper, Rodda, Folau, Haylett-Petty 2, Pocock
Cons: Foley 6
Pen: Foley
Yellow Card: Latu

Argentina: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

Australia: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Caleb Timu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Tom Banks

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)

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Watch the highlights of Australia‘s 45-34 victory over Argentina in Salta.

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La Rochelle kicked off the Top 14 weekend with a triumph over Clermont before Grenoble, Pau, Lyon and Toulouse prevailed in Saturday’s action.

Saturday
La Rochelle 16-12 Clermont Auvergne
Grenoble 28-25 Bordeaux-Bègles
Pau 12-9 Perpignan
Racing 92 13-19 Lyon
Toulouse 10-0 Agen

La Rochelle 16-12 Clermont Auvergne
Stade Marcel-Deflandre

Clermont suffered only their second defeat of the season when they went down to La Rochelle 16-12 in the opening game of the round.

At the end of a low scoring first-half it was La Rochelle leading 9-0 thanks to three Ihaia West penalties as Clermont were kept scoreless.

La Rochelle won this fixture 51-20 last season but any hopes of a similar result were cooled when Damian Penaud scored with barely a minute of the second-half played. Morgan Parra couldn’t convert the try which meant La Rochelle were 9-5 ahead and needing to keep Clermont at bay.

A high tackle from Clermont back-row Peceli Yato on 53 minutes meant the visitors were down to 14 players for 10 minutes, but he was joined by team-mate Etienne Falgoux and La Rochelle replacement prop Arthur Joly two minutes later due to scrum issues. That made it 14 against 13 before Clermont prop Loni Uhila saw red for making contact to Pierre Bourgarit’s head with his shoulder. The visitors were now down to 12 men.

La Rochelle turned the screw at scrum time and were awarded a penalty try on the hour mark to move 16-5 in front before Clermont hit back via a driving maul, with replacement hooker John Ulugia crashing over to reduce the home side’s buffer to four points with nine minutes remaining.

La Rochelle were able to hold onto their lead at Stade Marcel-Deflandre however to claim their fourth win of 2018/19, all coming at home.

The scorers:

For La Rochelle:
Try: Penalty try
Pens: West 3
Yellow Card: Joly

For Clermont:
Tries: Penaud, Ulugia
Con: Laidlaw
Yellow Cards: Yato, Falgoux
Red Card: Uhila

La Rochelle: 15 Arthur Retiere, 14 Vincent Rattez, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Jules Favre, 11 Jeremy Sinzelle, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Alexis Balès, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Gregory Alldritt, 6 Remi Bourdeau, 5 Thomas Jolmes, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Leo Aouf, 18 Lopeti Timani, 19 Kevin Gourdon, 20 Jean Victor Goillot, 21 Maxime Lafage, 22 Marc Andreu, 23 Arthur Joly

Clermont: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 George Moala, 11 Tim Nanai-Williams, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Peceli Yato, 7 Viktor Kolelishvili, 6 Arthur Iturria, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Loni Uhila
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Patricio Fernandez, 22 Apisai Naqalevu, 23 Rabah Slimani

Referee: Ludovic Cayre
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco-Baque, Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Denis Grenouillet

Grenoble 28-25 Bordeaux-Bègles
Stade des Alpes

Grenoble notched their second win of the season, clinging on to hold off a Bordeaux fightback after having led 25-3 at one point.

Adrien Latorre and Salesi Fifita scored tries inside the first 15 minutes, with Gaetan Germain converting Fifita’s and adding a penalty as Grenoble raced out to a 15-0 lead, racking up a point a minute early on.

Baptiste Serin got Bordeaux-Begles on the board with a penalty, but that was cancelled out by one from Germain, and then Etienne Fourcade’s try on the half-hour mark, converted by Germain, gave Grenoble a commanding lead.

Mahamdou Diaby scored just before the break, converted by Serin, to give Bordeaux a sniff of a comeback, and although Germain scored another penalty early in the second half, when Beka Gorgadze crossed the whitewash and Serin converted after 49 minutes, the comeback was most certainly on.

Serin landed a penalty on 64 minutes and Nans Ducuing scored a try with six to go to leave the game in the balance at 28-25 but the home side clung on for a morale-boosting win that lifts Grenoble well away from bottom club Perpignan.

The scorers:

For Grenoble:
Tries: Latorre, Fifita, Fourcade
Cons: Germain 2
Pens: Germain 3

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Diaby, Gordadze, Ducuing
Cons: Serin 2
Pens: Serin 2

Grenoble: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Daniel Kilioni, 13 Pablo Uberti, 12 Alaska Taufa, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Adrien Latorre, 9 Theo Nanette, 8 Loic Godener, 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Steven Setephano, 5 Taiasina Tuifua, 4 Leva Fifita, 3 Davit Kubriashvili, 2 Etienne Fourcade, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Replacements: 16 Mike Tadjer, 17 Beka Gigashvili, 18 Francois Uys, 19 Killian Geraci, 20 Lilian Saseras, 21 Franck Pourteau, 22 Lolagi Visinia, 23 Ali Oz

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Eto Nabuli, 13 Romain Lonca, 12 Nathan Decron, 11 Nans Ducuing, 10 Baptiste Serin, 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Jandré Marais, 3 Lekso Kaulashvili, 2 Florian Dufour, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Clement Maynadier, 17 Thierry Paiva, 18 Kane Douglas, 19 Leroy Houston, 20 Jules Gimbert, 21 Lucas Meret, 22 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 23 Lasha Tabidze

Referee: Jonathan Dufort
Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona, Jean-Luc Rebollal
TMO: Mourad Zitouni

Pau 12-9 Perpignan
Stade du Hameau

Perpignan remain rooted to the bottom of the Top 14 after a narrow 12-9 defeat to Pau at the Stade du Hameau.

In an absolute dog of a game played in pouring rain, four penalties from Antoine Hastoy, including the winner in the final moments, pipped three from Paddy Jackson to leave Perpignan floundering seven points away from the safety of twelfth place.

The scorers:

For Pau:
Pens: Hastoy 4

For Perpignan:
Pens: Jackson 3
Yellow Card: Chateau

Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Marvin Lestremau, 13 Julien Fumat, 12 Florian Nicot, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 Paddy Butler, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Martin Puech, 5 Daniel Ramsay, 4 Baptiste Pesenti, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Lucas Rey, 1 Geoffrey Moise
Replacements: 16 Laurent Bouchet, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Fabrice Metz, 19 Antoine Erbani, 20 Julien Blanc, 21 Benson Stanley, 22 Atila Septar, 23 Nicolas Corato

Perpignan: 15 Julien Farnoux, 14 Jonathan Bousquet, 13 Mathieu Acebes, 12 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 11 Eroni Sau, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Tom Ecochard, 8 Karl Chateau, 7 Mike Faleafa, 6 Lucas Bachelier, 5 Masalosalo Tutaia, 4 Tristan Labouteley, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Seilala Lam, 1 Enzo Forletta
Replacements: 16 Raphael Carbou, 17 Yassine Boutemane, 18 Shahn Eru, 19 Genesis Mamea, 20 Sadek Deghmache, 21 Enzo Selponi, 22 Pierre Lucas, 23 Sylvain Charlet

Referee: Cyril Lafon
Assistant referees: Cedric Clave, Jacques De Lemos
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure

Racing 92 13-19 Lyon
Paris La Defense Arena

On a day of upsets, Lyon came back from Paris with four crucial points as the early race for play-off places hotted up on Saturday, leaving Racing regretting a blunt edge to their attack which repeatedly foundered on Lyon’s defence.

Liam Gill’s 29th minute try gave Lyon a commanding position at half-time, with three penalties from Lionel Beauxis and the conversion of Gill’s try opening up a 16-6 lead, with Finn Russell kicking two goals for the hosts.

Beauxis extended the lead to 19-6 on 53 minutes, but Simon Zebo’s try and Russell’s conversion brought Racing back into it at 13-19.

The kitchen sink followed, but Lyon were as resolute as they were disciplined and held on to move to second in the provisional standings, while Racing drop to fourth.

Stade Francais could take over at the top with a heavy bonus point win at Castres on Sunday, while if results don’t go their way, Racing could drop out of the top six altogether.

The scorers:

For Racing 92:
Try: Zebo
Con: Russell
Pens: Russell, Iribaren

For Lyon:
Try: Gill
Con: Beauxis
Pens: Beauxis 4

Racing 92: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Boris Palu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Fabien Sanconnie, 20 Xavier Chauveau, 21 Ben Volavola, 22 Olivier Klemenczak, 23 Census Johnston

Lyon: 15 Charlie Ngatai, 14 Toby Arnold, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Thibault Regard, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jonathan Pélissié, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Julien Puricelli, 5 Etienne Oosthuizen, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Raphael Chaume
Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Alexandre Menini, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Patrick Sobela, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Rudi Wulf, 23 Richard Choirat

Referee: Thomas Charabas
Assistant referees: Vivien Praderie, Richard Duhau
TMO: Cedric Marchat

Toulouse 10-0 Agen
Stade Ernest-Wallon

Agen are back in the relegation zone after being nilled in Toulouse in the late game on Saturday.

Many years ago, this might have been a game at the right end of the table. But pre-game, Toulouse were 10th, Agen 13th. Victory for the Toulousains took them improbably up to fourth, but the performance was distinctly 10th rate – although it’s a little unfair to say all that without paying respect to the weather, which was a first-rate downpour from start top finish.

Sebastian Bezy was the sole try-scorer on the night, his score coming on 24 minutes. It was converted by Zack Holmes, who had kicked the home team into the lead after 15 minutes.

The scoreboard operators were able to sit back and relax thereafter, while even discipline failed to deliver much in the way of things to talk about: only a yellow card shown to Jake McIntyre for a lift in the tackle after 17 minutes was any hint of talkworthy action. It did make the difference though, Bezy’s try was scored during his time in the bin.

The match was also noteworthy for the return of scrum-half Antoine Dupont, back from eight months out with injury.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Try: Bezy
Con: Holmes
Pen: Holmes

For Agen:
Yellow Card: McIntyre

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Arthur Bonneval, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rynhard Elstadt, 6 François Cros, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Clement Castets
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 David Ainu’u, 18 Pierre Gayraud, 19 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 20 Antoine Dupont, 21 Pita Ahki, 22 Thomas Ramos, 23 Maks van Dyk

Agen: 15 Clement Laporte, 14 Timilai Rokoduru, 13 Julien Heriteau, 12 Mathieu Lamoulie, 11 Benito Masilevu, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Paul Abadie, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Vincent Farre, 6 Loic Hocquet, 5 Denis Marchois, 4 Tom Murday, 3 Dave Ryan, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Quentin Bethune
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Adrian Motoc, 19 Romain Briatte, 20 Hugo Verdu, 21 Johann Sadie, 22 Sam Vaka, 23 Yohann Montes

Referee: Julien Castaignede
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini, Frederic Chazal
TMO: Eric Gauzins

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South Africa rued “soft moments” that cost them a win over New Zealand, but came away with burgeoning self-belief, despite a heartbreaking 32-30 defeat in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Springboks held a 12-point advantage going into the final five minutes but the never-say-die All Blacks scored two converted tries in the dying moments of the Rugby Championship game to claim a famous victory.

“For 70 minutes we did a lot of things right, but we had some soft moments and against the number one team in the world you can’t afford to do that,” said Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.

“That’s probably where we lost it. I don’t think we deserved to lose but they really stuck to their game and perhaps we switched off for a split second.”

The teams both kicked two first-half penalty goals to be tied at 6-6 at the break, but the Springboks scored three second-half tries through Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and Cheslin Kolbe to take what appeared a commanding 30-13 lead with only a quarter of the match remaining.

Handre Pollard had been flawless from the kicking tee to kick six out of six for a personal haul of 15 points from three conversions and three penalty goals as the clock counted down on what appeared to be near certain victory.

However, tries by Rieko Ioane, Scott Barrett and Ardie Savea in the final 18 minutes – to add to an earlier score by Aaron Smith – stole victory for New Zealand.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said it was dangerous to talk about positives after a defeat but could not deny his satisfaction at the progress made by the team.

“I’m definitely happy with the progress and the growth we have shown,” Erasmus said.

“South African rugby fans are not stupid and there will be criticism of this defeat, but we have shown growth and we will cling on to that.

“The last three games between us have been decided by no more than two points and when we run out against them now, the game can go either way. I’m proud we’ve got back to that position.

“It gives me hope that and belief that if we do a few things right we will be in with a real chance at the next year’s World Cup.”

Erasmus said that the deciding factor was probably New Zealand’s greater experience in tight games.

“I remember from when I was in Ireland, seeing New Zealand come back against the Irish from an impossible positon so I never thought the game was in the bag, even with five minutes to go,” he said.

“That’s New Zealand’s culture, that’s how they do things and that’s where we have to get to. We will learn from this.”

The Springboks are next in action against England at Twickenham on 3 November.

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Take a check on the video highlights from Round Eight of the Mitre 10 Cup.

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All Blacks flanker Sam Cane will be out of action for several months after fracturing his neck in the 32-30 triumph over South Africa on Saturday.

The incident occurred in the 36th minute following a collision with Springboks’ number eight Francois Louw.

Cane has undergone surgery and is expected to make a full recovery, but the openside will miss New Zealand’s game with Australia, as well as the November series.

All Blacks doctor Tony Page said: “We have every confidence he will do well with the operation and like any fracture it will probably take about three months for the bone to get strong and we’ll take it step by step.

“The operation is really just to keep everything in the right place so the bone can heal on its own accord. Many sportsmen have had this injury as have people in other walks of life and they usually make a good recovery.

“Sam is in good spirits. He was obviously sore in the middle of the night, as you are after a fracture, but he is being well looked after and he’s getting lots of support, lots of texts and phone calls.”

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Click:hollow block machine

Rugby Australia are unhappy with the Wallabies’ performances in 2018 but will wait for the team’s coach, Michael Cheika, to present to the board before deciding what, if any, changes are required.

That was the word from Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle ahead of the Wallabies’ arrival back in Sydney on Monday evening after a record-breaking comeback win in Salta on Sunday.

The 45-34 victory appears to have eased pressure on Cheika, which would have reached boiling point if the Wallabies failed to reverse the 31-7 half-time deficit.

But questions about the team’s sub-standard performances this year as a whole remain, and Castle said there was no desire to let one win gloss over that fact.

“The reality is that of the Test matches we have played this year we are three from nine,” she told Rugby Australia’s official website.

“So there are still some elements of performance that we can’t hide from that are still not up to the level that we would expect from a Wallabies team.

“We are expecting that Michael will come and present to us around those performances and what his plans would be going into that end of year tour, and then into the lead up to the World Cup.”

Cheika fronting the board isn’t an extraordinary step – he does it several times every year.

Castle stopped short of guaranteeing Cheika will be the man to take the Wallabies to the World Cup but she indicated his job was not under threat.

“At the end of the day Michael has a contract to coach through to the World Cup and that hasn’t changed,” she said.

“We would be expecting that he will come and present us with his plans for the Spring Tour and into the World Cup.

“Myself and the Rugby Australia board will take those comments on and move forward from there.”

The content of Cheika’s presentation to the board will potentially determine if any changes are made to the Wallabies coaching staff, either through additions or replacements.

Cheika deflected questions at the weekend about possible changes to his staff, but there have been reports a respected Wallabies figure like George Gregan or John Eales coming into the mix as an outside voice.

The team’s defence under Nathan Grey has been heavily criticised this year, with high missed tackle counts and several blow outs.

But statistics show the points conceded column has stayed relatively level to last year.

After conceding 26 points per game through the first nine games of last season, the team has allowed 27 points per game this year.

The facts and figures do show a major slide in the points production department, under attack coach Stephen Larkham.

After racking up 32 points per game through nine games this time last year, it took a 45-point haul on Sunday morning took the team’s average to just 20 per game this season.

Castle said Cheika’s presentation would address those concerns.

“Michael recognises there are performances at a level that he wouldn’t accept from the Wallabies,” she added.

“He will be reviewing that, he will present to the board and he will present a plan as to how he see’s that moving forward.

“The board will then assess against that plan.”

The Wallabies started the year with a strong win over Ireland, and lost a tight series, but the Rugby Championship has, at best, seen good halves combined with awful halves.

That lack of consistency is a particular point of focus for Castle.

“With anything, you have to follow good process and the reality is Cheika has been appointed and had some success but we have had inconsistent performances,” she said.

“That’s something we all want to see improve and the board will be expecting him to present a plan as to how he will deliver an environment that is capable of ensuring players are delivering more consistent performances.”

Castle said she won’t making rash calls on who the best people are to lead the team into 2019.

“In this world there has to be a process and some time,” said Castle.

“Has everyone got private thoughts on what those things might be? Sure.

“But the reality is we have a process and Michael needs to present that plan to us.”

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Stade Francais moved back up to second in the Top 14 table following victory at Castres, while Toulon succumbed to Montpellier on Sunday.

Results

Sunday
Castres 9-14 Stade Francais
Montpellier 29-17 Toulon

Castres 9-14 Stade Francais
Stade Pierre-Fabre

Jules Plisson scored nine points as Stade Francais stunned defending Top 14 champions Castres 14-9 at the Stade Pierre-Fabre on Sunday.

It was all about the Parisians’ dominant pack and the accurate boot of Plisson in the opening period as the fly-half kicked three penalties for a 9-0 advantage at the break.

Rory Kockott responded for the defending champions but Julian Arias’ try completed the win, despite the hosts’ scrum-half adding a brace of three-pointers for a losing bonus-point.

The wet weather had caused problems in several games over the weekend and this was no different as the teams struggled for continuity.

Christophe Urios’ men opened the brighter but the visiting pack soon began to take control and they were rewarded via Plisson’s penalty.

Castres are renowned for their strength up front but Heyneke Meyer’s outfit were dominating the scrum battle and another infringement at the set-piece allowed their fly-half to make it 6-0.

That became a nine-point buffer at the interval through the accurate kicking of their pivot and the hosts were in trouble going into the final 40 minutes.

Although Kockott reduced the arrears early in the second period, Stade produced the decisive blow as Arias latched onto a grubber through and touched down.

Urios’ charges continued to battle and were rewarded when Kockott was twice on target from the tee to rescue a losing bonus-point, but the Parisians’ defence remained solid to claim an important win following their defeat to rivals Racing 92 last weekend.

The scorers:

For Castres:
Pens: Kockott 3

For Stade:
Try: Arias
Pens: Plisson 3

Castres: 15 Armand Batlle, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Julien Dumora, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Camille Gerondeau, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Alex Tulou, 20 Yann David, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Yohan Le Bourhis, 23 Marc Clerc

Stade: 15 Kylan Hamdaoui, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Julien Delbouis, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ryan Chapuis, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Mathieu De Giovanni, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Laurent Sempere, 1 Heinke van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi, 18 Paul Gabrillagues, 19 Hugh Pyle, 20 Clement Daguin, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Jonathan Danty, 23 Giorgi Melikidze

Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon, Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin

Montpellier 29-17 Toulon
GGL Stadium

Toulon fell to a fifth Top 14 defeat of the campaign as they went down to a Montpellier side that moved up to fourth in the table.

It was a tight first half as the hosts went 10-7 ahead through Benjamin Fall’s try and Ruan Pienaar’s penalty, while Daniel Ikpefan responded for Patrice Collazo’s men.

However, Timoci Nagusa’s effort just shy of the interval seemed to dent the visitors’ confidence and last season’s runners-up effectively completed the victory through quick-fire scores from Jan Serfontein and Louis Picamoles, despite Anthony Meric’s consolation.

Vern Cotter’s charges have not been at their best so far but they are starting to produce the goods and they had more than enough quality to dispatch Toulon.

Pienaar set them on their way with a three-pointer before Fall rewarded their control by crossing the whitewash at the end of the first quarter.

To the away side’s credit, they battled and reduced the deficit via Ikpefan but a yellow card for Eric Escande altered the course of the contest.

Montpellier immediately benefited from the scrum-half’s absence as Nagusa touched down for a 15-7 advantage at the break before Serfontein went over early in the second period.

Although Francois Trinh-Duc’s penalty appeared to keep Collazo’s outfit in the contest, hopes were almost immediately dashed by Picamoles’ effort.

There was still half-an-hour remaining at that stage but it took until the 74th minute for the next, and ultimately final, score, which came through Toulon’s Meric.

Liam Messam was sent-off late on to compound the away side’s misery and Montpellier duly went in search of the bonus-point, but they were unable to cross for the fifth time.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Tries: Fall, Nagusa, Serfontein, Picamoles
Cons: Pienaar 3
Pen: Pienaar

For Toulon:
Tries: Ikpefan, Meric
Cons: Trinh-Duc 2
Pen: Trinh-Duc
Yellow Card: Escande
Red Card: Messam

Montpellier: 15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Vincent Martin, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kelian Galletier, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Gregory Fichten, 18 Julien Ledevedec, 19 Kevin Kornath, 20 Enzo Sanga, 21 Alexandre Dumoulin, 22 Gabriel Ngandebe, 23 Antoine Guillamon

Toulon: 15 Mathieu Smaili, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Francois Trinh-Duc, 11 Daniel Ikpefan, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Eric Escande, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Jaques Potgieter, 6 Raphael Lakafia, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Swan Rebbadj, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Sebastien Taofifenua
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18 Stéphane Onambele, 19 Jean Monribot, 20 Julian Savea, 21 Malakai Fekitoa, 22 Anthony Meric, 23 Emerick Setiano

Referee: Pierre Brousset
Assistant referees: Adrien Descottes, Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Akim Hadj-Bachir

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Worcester Warriors produced an excellent display to thrash Bristol 52-7 at Sixways and move ahead of Sunday’s opponents in the Premiership table.

It was Pat Lam’s men who actually began on the front foot with Yann Thomas touching down, but Worcester responded brilliantly with 31 unanswered points in the first half.

Chris Pennell got them on the scoreboard from the tee before GJ van Velze, Ryan Mills, Marco Mama and Francois Venter crossed the whitewash for a comfortable buffer at the interval.

Pennell and Josh Adams then touched down as the pain continued for the West Countrymen, but the Welshman’s 46th minute effort was the final score until the last play of the game when Bryce Heem crossed.

Bristol had adapted well to life in the Premiership but, despite starting this match impressively and regularly testing the hosts’ defence early on, it turned into an embarrassing afternoon.

Samoan duo Alapati Leiua and Jack Lam were initially prominent and it was the number eight that created the match’s opening score by making an incursion through the heart of the Worcester rearguard. The home side failed to organise quickly enough and prop Thomas took a neat line off Andy Uren’s shoulder to touch down.

Alan Solomons’ men were then tested a minute later but they soon began to display their quality with Pennell kicking a penalty.

The Warriors’ forwards then showed their muscle in the loose, carrying hard and laying a platform for Francois Hougaard. The South African scrum-half, as he always seems to do for the Midlanders, duly dictated play and that created the space for Heem to send Van Velze over.

Heem was a constant threat and Lam’s charges were regularly being sent into reverse. At some point they had to break and it was no surprise to see Mills finish after a series of phases inside the opposition 22.

Mama followed the centre across the whitewash before Venter rounded off an excellent 40 minutes for the hosts by intercepting a loose pass and running 80 metres to score.

Worcester continued to dominate in the second half and Pennell was the next to go over from close range, opening a 31-point buffer.

Bristol were being outplayed and, as a result, they started to force the play. That resulted in errors and Adams pounced when another mistake ended in the Wales international wing intercepting and touching down unopposed.

With the game already won, the home side eased off and that allowed the visitors to prevent further embarrassment over the next half-hour. Bristol were also helped by Ryan Bower’s red card, who received his marching orders for hitting Will Hurrell’s head with his shoulder, but Worcester deservedly had the final say through Heem.

The scorers:

For Worcester:
Tries: Van Velze, Mills, Mama, Venter, Pennell, Adams, Heem
Cons: Weir 7
Pen: Pennell
Red Card: Bower

For Bristol:
Try: Y Thomas
Con: Madigan

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Marco Mama, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Perry Humphreys

Bristol: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Siale Piutau (cc), 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Jack Lam, 7 George Smith, 6 Steve Luatua (cc), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Nick Fenton-Wells, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Nic Stirzaker, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Ryan Edwards

Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady, Paul Dix
TMO: Rowan Kitt

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Check out highlights from Round Six of PRO14 action.

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