Monday 29 December 2014 10:42, UK
Stade Francais shocked defending champions Toulon 30-6 to end the year at the summit of the Top 14.
It was wins for all the home teams as the Top 14 came to the end of 2014.
Stade Francais 30-6 Toulon
Defending champions Toulon were shocked by a determined Stade Francais side who won 30-6 in Paris, relinquishing top spot in the league to their hosts.
Three tries to the hosts from Sergio Parisse, substitute Jeremy Sinzelle and Georgian prop Zurab Zhavania gave the Parisians an impressive win to end 2014.
Stade started strongly when they won a scrum against the feed and Italian Parisse strolled over for the opening score of the game.
Fly-half Jules Plisson then extended his team’s lead with two penalties in quick succession.
Disaster then struck for Toulon, who lost prop Matias Cortese to the sin-bin in an attempt to stem the flow of attack from their hosts.
Two minutes later flanker Virgile Bruni was shown a yellow card, reducing his team to 13 men as Plisson extended the Stade lead to 16-0.
However the visitors seemed to focus with their numerical disadvantage, and scored six points to make it 16-6 at the break.
Fly-half Sanchez and full-back Leigh Halfpenny failed with a drop goal and a kickable penalty respectively, with time running out for the visitors.
And it was the hosts who were able to add further points through tries from Sinzelle and Zhavania to give Stade a big win to end the year.
Lyon 16-13 Clermont
Lyon pulled of a shock win over Clermont with a late try from Kendrick Lynn.
The hosts took the lead with three points from Jerome Porical after seven minutes, but Brock James brought the visitors level shortly afterwards.
Though Lyon were impressive with ball in hand, Clermont’s trademark defence kept the home side out for much of the first half. Peceli Yato was on hand when Clermont were given an opportunity, with the No 8 crashing over out wide following a move that stretched the hosts' defence.
James added the conversion to take his team out to a 10-3 lead, where the score remained until the half-time whistle.
James missed an early second-half chance to extend Clermont’s lead but made no mistake on the second attempt.
Alexandre Lapandry was shown a yellow card for his part in a series of infringements from Clermont in defence, reducing the visitors to 14 men.
Porical added three points from the infringement to take the hosts to within a score, and after Julien Bonnaire was penalised at a ruck Porical made it a four-point game.
Lyon came agonisingly close to stealing the game on numerous occasions but were continually kept out by the Clermont defence.
However, with minutes to play Morgan Parra had a pass intercepted and the visitors were asked to defend one more time deep in their half.
Clermont held on admirably but ultimately Lynn was able to give his side a relieving score to snatch a victory over the top-four team.
Toulouse 15-9 Racing Metro
Good defence and poor conditions left both Toulouse and Racing Metro unable to score any tries on Sunday, but the hosts were able to come away with a 15-9 win thanks to the boot of All Black Luke McAlister.
It was Racing who were in the lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to a penalty and a drop goal from Benjamin Dambielle, who gave his side a slender 6-3 advantage following a Toby Flood penalty.
Luke McAlister then stepped up to draw the hosts level, but his effort was cancelled out by a second Dambielle penalty shortly thereafter.
Toulouse were struggling against the wind and a dominant Racing set-piece that was giving the visitors the majority of possession, but they managed to claw back another penalty towards the end of the first half, taking the score to 9-9.
It seemed as though the scores would remain that way at the break, but a penalty to Toulouse in the last play of the game was taken quickly by Vincent Clerc who tore towards the Racing tryline. Racing flanker Bernard Le Roux attempted to stop the winger but misjudged his tackle and was given a yellow card for a high challenge.
McAlister then sent the penalty through the uprights to give his side a 12-9 lead at the turn.
The Kiwi did the same in the fifth minute of the second half, earning the last points of the game. Though there were chances for both teams, Toulouse defended well as Racing turned down numerous kickable penalties in favour of chasing a win.
With a minute to spare this was still the case as they were awarded a penalty in front of the poles but opted for a line-out in the final play of the game.
Toulouse were able to steal the ball from the throw as they closed out for a relieving win.
Oyonnax 12-9 Bayonne
Freezing conditions met Bayonne when they travelled to Oyonnax in what was a relegation battle for both, with the home side narrowly edging a win.
Bayonne were looking to shake their season-long period without an away win, but were unable to breach the defence of their hosts throughout the 80 minutes.
Oyonnax were also unable to score any tries but the superior boot of Benjamin Urdapilleta ensured that they were able to secure four vital points.
The scores were tied at 9-9 at the break, with only one penalty coming in the second half courtesy of Urdapilleta at the end of the third quarter.
However with no time left Bayonne were awarded a kickable penalty to come away with a draw, but Martin Bustos Moyano was unable to get his shot on target, leaving the score at 12-9 to the hosts at the final whistle.
La Rochelle 19-15 Grenoble
High-flying Grenoble slumped to a second consecutive defeat as La Rochelle held on to win at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
Jonathan Wisniewski and Jean-Pascal Barraque exchanged penalties to keep the score tight in the opening minutes, but at the end of the first quarter Jason Eaton completed a long-range team try to give La Rochelle the lead.
Fabien Fortassin converted the try to increase his side’s lead but with seconds remaining in the half the lead was reduced to four points thanks to a Wisniewski penalty goal.
Fortassin and Wisniewski once again exchanged penalties in the second half, ending the game with a 19-15 scoreline, with Eaton’s crucial score proving the difference.
Castres 27-6 Montpellier
Two tries from Thomas Combezou earned Castres a vital win over Montpellier as they brought to an end a forgettable 2014.
Montpellier were first to test the other in defence as they held onto possession for a sweeping move that started in their own 22.
Though they failed to score from that possession they did earn a 3-0 lead shortly thereafter through the boot of Teddy Iribaren
The lead was short-lived though, as Rory Kockott was quick to react when a ball popped out of the scrum. The ball found its way to Combezou out wide and he dotted down with Kockott adding the extras.
Kockott added further first-half penalties to go with another from Iribaren to leave the score at 16-6 at the break.
A penalty apiece early in the second half kept the teams 10 points apart but Iribaren was sent to the sin-bin after an offside tackle on Kockott, and Kockott converted the accompanying penalty to make it 22-9.
Castres almost scored but for a mistake from Rodrigo Capo Ortega, although again they managed to compensate shortly after with a break from John Beattie who gave the ball to Combezou for his second of the game, and a 27-6 win for the home team.
Bordeaux-Begles 46-10 Brive
Bordeaux-Begles scored seven tries to dispose of Brive in impressive fashion at the Stade Chaban Delmas. Brive took the lead early through a try from Elia Radikedike following a Nicolas Bezy break. The Brive domination was short-lived though as prop Pat Barnard was shown a yellow card for a professional foul.
Louis-Benoit Madaule scored for Bordeaux-Begles from the scrum that resulted from the penalty, but in his first of four misses in the first half Pierre Bernard was wide with the conversion attempt.
Penalties were exchanged before a try came from Metuisela Talebula, who received the ball out wide and brushed off the defensive effort from Gaetan Germain to give Bordeaux-Begles a 13-10 lead which they took into the break.
Bordeaux-Begles stole a line-out five metres from their opponents line, affording prop Sebastien Taofifenua the opportunity to muscle over early in the second half.
Minutes later Bordeaux-Begles were again on the attack, but windy conditions soured a cross-field kick from Bernard intended for Sofiane Guitoune.
The home side were in complete control but looked to falter with Taiasina Tuifua sent to the bin. However, despite having fewer players on the field, Bordeaux-Begles were undeterred as Yann Lesgourgues beat numerous tackles to give his side a 25-10 lead after his effort was converted.
Pressure started to tell for Brive, who collapsed a maul to hand their opponents a penalty try before Blair Connor and Thibault Lacroix extended the scoreline for the hosts giving them a 46-10 win.
