Decidedly, Toulouse does not succeed in Clermont. Despite a better start to the season and his status as the evening favorite, the reigning European champion has remained a cap at the Stade Marcel-Michelin, as always since the birth of the Top 14 in 2005. The Jaunards won 16-13 thanks to to an iron defense and at the foot of his captain Camille Lopez at the end of the match. The Stade remains second, behind Union Bordeaux-Bègles, which could widen the gap. After a choppy start to the year, the Clermontois offered themselves a success that could be foundational in the race to the dams.
Toulouse does not leave completely fanny, with a well-deserved defensive bonus as the two teams gave themselves body and soul for the first major meeting of the championship in 2022. But a new year does not mean good resolutions for the flock of Ugo Mola. While the Haute-Garonne players were aiming for a first victory in Clermont-Ferrand since 2002, they broke their teeth on a Montferrand rearguard ready to meet the challenge.
# PosterTOP14 – D14
It’s over ! End of an intense and solid showdown which is won by the@ASMOofficial pic.twitter.com/QyT7ti3xaO– TOP 14 Rugby (@ top14rugby) January 1, 2022
The visitors had however set the tone, finding the fault in the sixth minute, through Juan Cruz Mallia, on an attack of 40 meters (0-7, 6 ‘). The desire no doubt to find the meadow, after three weeks without playing, is the fault of the Covid-19. But in a vibrant Michelin stadium for the last match before the implementation of the gauges in the health protocol, the Clermontois never disassembled, like the international Damian Penaud, omnipresent on the back line of the ASM .
They too weighed down by cases of coronavirus, forcing a return to training in midweek only, the Clermontois knew how to put the heart and send it in the absence of a technical precision of goldsmith. It is with the heart that Yohan Beheregaray scored the only try of his own to come back up to the quarter of an hour of play. Once these fairly high bases laid, the two defenses ended up taking control of the match, between fights harsh (nine balls scratched for Clermont) and muzzled offensive players. Without Antoine Dupont, left at rest, Romain Ntamack had more hits in the ribs than blows of brilliance.
After putting their guts into it, Jono Gibbes’ men relied on their “left foot” asset, and the entry into play of Camille Lopez for the last twenty minutes. Arrived on the field with a score of 10 everywhere, the opening half converted the hard work of his forwards to put his own in front of a drop (13-10, 69 ‘). Then he had a cool head when it came to punishing a Toulouse foul on a ruck just over five minutes from the siren.
“There are people who struggle a lot more than us so we’re not going to complain …”@ Lopezcamille64 (@ASMOofficial) after #ASMST ️ pic.twitter.com/sShWFkcTOf
– Canal Rugby Club (@CanalRugbyClub) January 1, 2022
Clermont will have been in front of the mark for ten minutes, no more. Those that were enough, in a tense money time during which Toulouse let slip new ammunition. The Auvergnats pass in front of the LOU, in sixth row. Toulouse, for its part, has stalled, with a second consecutive defeat outside its bases after the setback at the leader, the UBB, on December 4.
Earlier in the evening, the other stadium, the Stade Français, dominated Perpignan (27-17) lower in the standings. In a pleasant match despite the weight of the stake, and the specter of the maintenance to be provided as a holiday digest, the players of the capital were able to count on a Waisea of the great evenings, author of a double.
# TOP14 #SFPUSAP – D14
The year could not have started better for the @SFParisRugby ! The Parisians win at home and take their distance from the red zone ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/7giHZmtFWe– TOP 14 Rugby (@ top14rugby) January 1, 2022
The USAP was not unworthy, not refusing the game. But too much indiscipline and imprecision took precedence over their desire not to suffer the game. The Occitan club remains penultimate, with the same number of success than Toulon, Brive and Biarritz but two more games than the RCT and the CAB, one more than the red lantern, the BO. Stade Français is eighth, and could even regain the balance between victories and defeats on the next day in Castres.