Castres-Clermont: 20-23
While the Tarnais had made this match an event not to be missed, the Clermontois came to spoil the hopes of a Castres Olympique under pressure. Uninhibited, Christophe Urios’ men, back home, scored early with their opener Anthony Belleau (19th) taking advantage of an opportunistic recovery before adding to the score by Bautista Delguy (24th) after a magnificent exchange of line passes, first hand behind scrum. Before the break, the Castres, upset, managed to pick up the score a little (10-17) thanks to their scrum half Jérémy Fernandez taking advantage of a reaction from his forwards.
In the second half, Castres Olympique thought they had done the hardest part by coming back to level (20-20) in the 68th minute following a naughty try above a ruck by their pillar Levan Chilachava near the en -opponent goal, then the surgical 89 of his Uruguayan scrum half Santiago Arata after the yellow card whistled by Peceli Yato (67th) for a foul on the ground. But that was a poor understanding of ASM: with a penalty goal (72nd), Belleau put his team in the lead in money time and then, thanks to an iron defense, sealed this away success, the second this season.
Bayonne-Oyonnax: 21-17
Bayonne was scared until the last second or almost in a match that Aviron had to win to avoid slipping closer to the red zone. The Basques started this direct duel for survival very badly, letting Oyonnax take off in the first period. The promoted player, boldly, surprised the locals first by his winger Stark, who went to catch a candle on the nose of Camille Lopez (8th) then by his flanker Lebreton (32nd), served by a superb pass behind the back of his scrum half Ruru.
Trailing 6-14 at the break, apathetic, Rowing rolled up its sleeves after returning from the locker room. Rouet, exemplary, allowed his troops to go in front just before the hour mark by slipping to the short side behind an advancing ball (16-14). Then Aurélien Callandret became an acrobat to receive a pass at the foot of Baget and give Grégory Patat’s men a little breathing room (69th, 21-17). Oyonnax brings back a defensive bonus but can regret his indiscipline and his wasted highlights in the last five minutes, in particular two penalties and a poorly exploited handball penalty, which put Bayonne to torture almost until the end.
Montpellier-Pau : 22-17
The Héraultais defeated Pau at the GGL Stadium, signing their third consecutive victory at home. But it was complicated for a long-ineffective MHR. The deliverance came in the last quarter of an hour on tries from Florian Verhaeghe (15-10, 67th) and Arthur Vincent on a magnificently executed counterattack (22-10, 73rd) while Pau was 14 after the card yellow against Jack Maddocks (67th). The match was close for a very long time despite a lively start.
On an interception, Pau scrum half Dan Robson flattened after 36 seconds (0-7, 2nd), Montpellier reacting very quickly with Jan Serfontein (7-7, 7th). Joe Simmonds (7-10, 28th) and Louis Carbonel (10-10, 40th) then responded to each other’s feet. At the end of the match, the Section was flattened by Mehdi Tlili (22-17, 76th), which allowed it to win a defensive bonus. The MHR remains at the bottom but is within one point of Perpignan and Oyonnax.
Lyon-Perpignan: 36-24
The LOU won the match that it should not lose against the USAP which was ahead of it by one point at kick-off. Despite the pressure, Lyon built their success with patience, starting in the best possible way with a try from Botha after a big breakthrough from Rey. Then, the Lyonnais had all the difficulty in the world to get past the perfectly organized Catalan defensive line. But by putting pressure on, LOU pushed USAP to make a mistake, which Berdeu took advantage of (6 out of 6 at the foot) to widen the gap, and found the fault a second time through Allen (20- 3 at the break).
After forty minutes spent defending, Perpignan showed its offensive talents at the start of the second half and scored a try by Van Tonder then insisted without hesitation to come back. But Lyon did not panic, scored a welcome third try through Baptiste Couilloud because Perpignan did not give up as usual and showed its character by finishing strong to score two tries in the last ten minutes.
