Sunday 4 January 2015 23:02, UK
Clermont beat an ill-disciplined Toulouse side 24-6 on Sunday to go top of the table in the Top 14.
Tries from Aurélien Rougerie and Wesley Fofana gave the hosts a vital win that propels them aboe rivals Stade Francais and Toulon in the standings.
Penalties cost Toulouse dearly as Camille Lopez was given plenty of opportunities to kick for goal, despite not having his best day with the boot.
The French fly-half was given two chances early in the match, but sent the first one wide and left the second one short. In the 17th minute the Toulouse scrum was penalised and Lopez made no mistake as he opened the scoring for Clermont with a 3-0 score.
In the 25th minute Clermont were given yet another chance to increase the lead but once again the kick was missed.
From the kick Toulouse began to grow into the game and were far more in control with ball in hand. The trademark Clermont defence held out for an extended period before a penalty was eventually forced, with England's Toby Flood converting to draw his team level.
It was then Clermont's turn to string together the phases as they made their way into Toulouse territory, culminating in Lopez putting Rougerie in space for the first try of the game.
Lopez converted and added a penalty on the stroke of half-time, giving his team a 13-3 lead going into the break.
Flood had a chance to put a dent in the lead early in the second half but he missed his attempt at goal, while Lopez was on target when the Toulouse scrum was penalised once again.
Clermont then launched another series of attacks on Toulouse, who were made to defend endlessly in their own half. Relief appeared to have come in the form of a Clermont knock-on but the referee brought play back to a penalty for a high tackle and Lopez furthered the damage with his fourth successful kick to make it 19-3.
Luke McAlister drew his side slightly closer with a penalty of his own, but the visitors were unable to score any further points as the game drew to a close
With three minutes remaining Wesley Fofana made sure of the win when he dotted down for the hosts to give them a convincing 24-6 win to go top of the table with their first win of the new year.
