Sunday 21 December 2014 21:44, UK
It was another weekend of intense action in France's Top 14, with Toulon retaining top spot thanks to a 30-6 win over Lyon.
Grenoble hosted Stade Francais in the only fixture of the weekend to take place on Friday. Stade Francais' Jules Plisson scored 16 points with the boot as his team crossed the whitewash five times to take a 43-30 win.
Waisea Nayacalevu Vuidravuwalu scored two of his team’s tries but Stade Francais were robbed of a bonus point when their three-try advantage was reduced to two with a penalty try to Grenoble in the 79th minute.
The lead between Montpellier and Toulouse was exchanged several times while Vincent Clerc kept Toulouse slightly ahead with two tries on either side of half-time.
In the end, the three-point advantage that Montpellier took into the break was restored by scrum-half Teddy Iribaren, who kicked a penalty with under two minutesleft, giving his team a 23-20 win over the most successful club in the tournament’s history.
Toulouse currently occupy eighth place in the standings, one point behind Bordeaux Begles, who travelled to Bayonne in this weekend’s fixture.
No tries were scored by either team as Bayonne winger Martin Bustos Moyano matched Pierre Bernard’s four penalty goals to lock the two teams at 12-12. In the end it was Bayonne pivot Santiago Fernandez who ended the deadlock with a drop goal in the 78th minute to give his team a much-needed 15-12 win.
Brive wing Alfi Mafi scored the only of the game when his team hosted Oyonnax on Saturday. Two second-half penalties from fly-half Ben Urdapilleta gave Oyonnax their only points as they were outgunned 19-6 by their opponents, who now move ahead of them in the Top 14 standings.
La Rochelle opened the scoring when they visited Racing Metro in Paris on Saturday afternoon with a penalty from Fabien Fortassin, but the hosts went on to score 27 unanswered points thereafter thanks to tries from Dimitri Szarzewski, Brice Dulin and replacement Yoan Audrin.
La Rochelle did hit back with a try of their own through centre Jean Pascal Barraque, but it was too little too late as they left Paris with no points from their 27-8 loss.
An uneventful first half at the Stade Félix-Mayol between Toulon and Lyon was rectified in a strong second-half showing by hosts Toulon.
Two penalties from full-back Jerome Porical gave Lyon a slender 6-3 lead at half time, but the visitors were unable to capitalise on their advantage as Toulon ran in three tries in the second period, with Chris Masoe scoring twice to go with Drew Mitchell’s 63rd minute try. Toulon remain on top of the competition log following the 30-6 win.
Clermont suffered a blow on the stroke of half-time in their game against Castres when No 7 Julien Bardy was given a red card for striking an opponent. His opposite number, Yannick Caballero, was given a yellow card for his involvement in the affair.
A second-half yellow card from lock Rodrigo Capo Ortega meant that Castres were unable to properly cash in on the extra man advantage as Clermont piled on the points through Morgan Parra and Camille Lopes.
Castres scored the first try of the game in the second minute but aside from a second-half penalty from Rory Kockott they were unable to score any more points, and were beaten 19-10 thanks to a 50th minute try from Clermont winger Zac Guildford.
