At the end of the eleventh day of Top 14, Aviron Bayonnais defeated Stade Français (21-13) on Sunday evening, in Jean-Dauger.
TOPS
Joris Segonds plays a nasty trick on his former partners
With his teammate Giovanni Habel-Küffner and Pierre Huget on the Parisian side, Joris Segonds was one of three players to face their former team at Jean-Dauger. Valuable in his occupying footwork, he was able to dictate the tempo of a locked-in match essentially played in the confrontation zones. Author of eleven points (4/6), he is one of the great architects of the success of his team (21-13), in which he asserts himself more and more after his arrival in the off-season.
Master at home, Rowing asserts itself in the race for the final stages
Bayonne’s unbeaten home streak continues. At the end of a tough and contested match, during which there was no question of great flights, the Basques overcame the Stade français, thanks to two tries from Mateo Carreras (10th), at the conclusion of a surplus off and Esteban Capilla (46th), author of his first attempt in Top 14 in force. Accounting, this victory allows Gregory Patat’s men to move up to fifth place in the standings (30 points) and to be a more credible candidate than ever for the final stages.
Stade Français undoubtedly deserved better
This is undoubtedly the best trip for the Pink Soldiers since the start of the season. Finding an iron defense over 80 minutes, the Parisians remained in contact with Rowing at Jean-Dauger for a long time, returning to the locker room at the break with a score of parity (10-10), thanks in particular to Joe’s try Marchant (12th), after a kick with a generous rebound from Louis Carbonel. With 36 points conceded away on average before this meeting, Paul Gabrillagues’ teammates have (finally) found the state of mind and the intensity necessary to aspire to win away from their bases. Given the nature of the match, a defensive bonus would not have been undeserved.
FLOPS
Maqala muzzled by the Parisian defense
Co-top scorer in the Top 14 at kick-off, Sireli Maqala was less visible than in his previous outings on Sunday evening. With a pass directly into touch in his 22 meters and a ball falling on contact in the first act, the Fijian center lacked precision and was stifled by the rough defense of the Parisians. His end of the match was tarnished by a delayed tackle on Samuel Ezeala (78th) which caused the start of a scuffle between the two teams. Both men were penalized with a yellow card by Ludovic Cayre. To his credit all the same, six defenders beaten and it is he who is at the start of the action which brings Esteban Capilla’s try.
Romain Briatte took the water from Jean Dauger
Announced at the start at the end of the season, Romain Briatte put in a very poor performance on Basque soil. With only five meters covered with balls in hand, the captain of the Parisian pack suffered a lot and made a forward attack on a devastating tackle from Manu Tuilagi at the start of the match. Waste also in defense with two missed tackles out of his nine attempts. Finally, his defensive rise in suicidal point leads to the breakthrough of Baptiste Chouzenoux concluded by the second Bayonne try (46th)
