The first game of the day was a shock. But between the first two in the standings, Toulouse and Stade Français, the first period did not really keep all its promises, Saturday November 5, during the 10th day of the Top 14. To the point that the supporters present at the Ernest-Wallon stadium will perhaps remember more about the interruption of the match for ten minutes because two environmental activists clung to the posts shortly before the quarter-hour mark. Third in the Top 14, Stade Rochelais suffered against Brive, the red lantern, but finally won, while Clermont, undefeated for more than a year at home, lost against Aviron bayonnais in his den of Marcel -Michelin. Lyon, winner of Castres (26-20), has revived and Racing 92, dominating against Usap (44-20), remains in the rhythm.
The shock: the Stade Français believed in it, Toulouse misses the match point
Not very effective in the last gesture and deprived of their internationals, the two teams relied on the game at the foot of their scorers, especially in the first period. Dominating, the players of Ugo Mola were drafts in the 22 opposing meters, without managing to convert their opportunities. More skilful than Paul Graou, Joris Segonds gave his side the advantage thanks to a penalty and a nice drop just before the break (3-6).
In the second half, the Samoan Giovanni Habel Kuffner scored the first try of the match for the Parisians, being the quickest to recover a ball released by Dimitri Delibes (3-13, 50th). If Selevasio Tolofua reacted shortly after by scoring Toulouse’s first try (8-13, 57th), Edgar Retière’s missed conversion, combined with the penalty converted by Segonds a few minutes later, gave Gonzalo’s men a small margin Quesada (8-16).
Very compact in defense, Morgan Parra’s teammates ended up cracking in the last two minutes. While Retière had finally opened his counter (11-16), the three-quarter center Paul Costes went to flatten, alone on his left side, for the second Toulouse try (16-16, 79th). The match point in the feet of the French opener was not seized: his conversion hit the post, forcing the two teams to share the points.
The perf: Bayonne brings down Clermont, undefeated for more than a year at Marcel-Michelin
Bayonne continues. After having succeeded in bringing down the Toulouse leader last weekend (26-22), the players of Grégory Patat achieved a new big blow on Saturday, going to win against Clermont (20-25) at the Marcel- Michelin. ASM had been undefeated there since September 11, 2021.
At the opening, New Zealander Jason Robertson was one of the main architects of Rowing’s victory with a try, two conversions and a penalty at the very end of the match, which extinguished Clermont’s hopes. The promoted Basque goes back to sixth position in the Top 14 ranking.
The missed feat: Brive to a happiness penalty against La Rochelle
The red lantern was one penalty away from holding the performance of this 10th day. Facing the European champions, Esteban Abadie and his teammates did not have a complex, far from it. In front of their home crowd, they led in the score before suffering at the start of the second period against, in particular, the kicking game of Antoine Hastoy. However, at the end of the game, Brive had the opportunity to win on the wire. Unfortunately for Arnaud Méla’s men, Thomas Laranjeira was caught by time when taking his penalty in the dying seconds. The ball ended its race to the left of the posts (17-19).
The Corréziens chained a fifth defeat in a row while the Rochelais took advantage of the draw between Toulouse and Stade Français to regain the place of runner-up to the Ile-de-France residents.