Monday 30 March 2015 16:50, UK
Stade Francais closed the gap on second-placed Clermont Auvergne with a thrilling 40-26 win in the Top 14 at the Stade Jean-Bouin.
The Parisiens ran in five tries to Clermont’s four as they avoided a third successive home defeat and kept alive their hopes of a top-two finish.
Stade were quick out of the traps and opened the scoring after just four minutes when Djibril Camara started a superb counter-attack from within his own 22 and winger Waisea Nayacalevu crossed in the corner.
Jules Plisson converted before adding a penalty but Clermont’s response was immediate, slick handling from their backs setting up a two-on-one out wide which Peceli Yato exploited.
However, Stade restored their 10-point lead just three minutes later when centre Jonathan Danty again underlined his potential by slicing through the Clermont line for his fifth try of the season.
A Plisson penalty extended their lead and Stade finished the half with a flourish, Samoan prop Sakaria Taulafo diving over from a rolling maul for a 27-7 interval advantage.
Clermont struck early in the second-half with two tries in the corner for Fiji winger Napolioni Nalaga to cut the gap to eight points, but they were rocked on the hour mark when Danty triggered a superb counter-attack and Plisson kicked a precise crossfield ball for winger Julien Arias to touch down.
Six minutes from time, Stade effectively sealed the win with their fifth try by replacement hooker Laurent Sempere, while Sebastien Vahaamahina grabbed a late consolation score for Clermont.
Toulouse stun Toulon
Toulouse produced one of the great comebacks as they beat Toulon for the first time at the Stade Velodrome by 34-24.
Toulon were in full force in the opening exchanges, and when they opened up an 18-0 lead after 32 minutes thanks to two tries from Josua Tuisova it looked like it would be a tough day at the office for Toulouse.
But Toulouse staged a comeback thanks to three second-half tries, two of which were scored by full-back Maxime Medard.
Two early penalties from Michalak had the visiting team on the back foot before Corey Flynn was sin-binned for taking David Smith out without the ball.
Toulouse were attempting to get themselves back in the game but a Michalak interception led to a Tuisova try before he added another in the 32nd minute.
The visitors came back to score a try just before half-time, and within ten minutes of the second half were just a point behind thanks to a penalty and Medard's first effort.
Toulouse took the lead for the first time in the 72nd minute, but it was a try from Jano Vermaak with four minutes remaining that handed the visitors an historic win.
Trinh-Duc inspires comfortable Montpellier win
Francois Trinh-Duc completed a successful comeback as he guided Montpellier to a landslide 45-17 win over Lyon in his first start since October.
Having returned from a broken leg suffered last year, Trinh-Duc dotted down for an early try before setting one up for Robert Ebersohn with just eight minutes on the board.
Stephen Brett countered with a penalty but it was all he could do as Montpellier extended an early 14-3 lead. Fulgence Ouedraogo scored next for the home side before Yohann Artru was the recipient of an inside ball from Benoit Paillaugue to give Montpellier their fourth and a 31-8 half-time lead.
Lyon added three penalties in the second half but two more tries from the home side, one from replacement Wynand Olivier and one penalty try, gave them a comfortable 45-17 win.
Castres stay alive with Grenoble win
A try from All Black Sitiveni Sivivatu as well as eight points from the boot of Rory Kockott gave Castres a vital away win over Grenoble on Saturday night as they fight to avoid relegation.
Sivivatu has opened the scoring in the third minute, and with the Kockott conversion had given his side the perfect start, but Castres were unable to capitalise on the early pressure and a drop goal from Kockott in the 30th minute was the next scoring play. The scores remained unchanged at 10-0 at the break.
Castres were forced to play 20 of the final forty minutes with 14 men as Remi Tales and Kockott were both shown yellow cards. Grenoble broke the ice early in the second half with two penalties from Jonathan Wisniewski, one of which was matched by Kockott in the 49th minute, but Wisniewski continued to chip away at the Castres lead with a total of four second-half penalties.
The fourth came in the 70th minute, giving his side a chance with just one point in it, but a penalty from full-back Geoffrey Palis sealed a much-needed win for Castres with four minutes remaining.
La Rochelle rock Bordeaux Begles
La Rochelle dented Bordeaux Begles’ play-off hopes with a stunning 22-21 victory at Stade Chaban Delmas.
The visitors produced a dominant first-half performance, with Fabien Fortassin kicking three penalties to give them a 9-0 lead before Hikairo Forbes powered over following impressive build-up play by Jean-Pascal Barraque.
Pierre Bernard’s late penalty left Bordeaux trailing 16-3 at the break and he added two more after the break before Fortassin responded with his fifth successive kick of the afternoon.
Fortassin added another penalty after Sofiane Guitoune’s 66th-minute try had given Bordeaux hope, but La Rochelle finished the game with 14 men after Levani Botia was sent off for a tip tackle on Pierre Bernard.
Metuisela Talebula’s last-minute try, which was converted by Bernard, earned Bordeaux a losing bonus point but La Rochelle held on for a morale-boosting win.
Oyonnax climb to fifth
Two tries from Silvere Tian handed Oyonnax a 24-3 win over Brive as they moved up to fifth in the Top 14.
It was a tryless first half but the home side led 9-0 at half-time thanks to the boot of Benjamin Urdapilleta.
Urdapilleta stretched the lead to 12 before Tian went over for his first try of the game on the back of good work from the Oyonnax forwards.
Full-back Gaetan Germain got the visitors on the board with a penalty, but when Fabien Cibray broke and Tian was in support for his second, the game was closed out by Oyonnax, who move up the table at the crucial end of the tournament.
Sexton lifts Racing
Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton lifted Racing Metro to a 12-6 win at Bayonne on his return to Top 14 action on Friday night.
On a wet and windy evening in south-west France, Sexton kicked six points as the Paris-based club warmed up for their first ever European Champions Cup quarter-final appearance next week against Saracens.
Racing arrived with ambition after losing to Brive last weekend and were strengthened by the return of Sexton and Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips.
The visitors led 6-3 at half-time thanks to two penalties from Sexton's boot on seven and 28 minutes, although Argentine full-back Buston Moyano pulled one back for Bayonne after 33 minutes.
Racing lacked efficiency on their return from the locker room and failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage after Bayonne and France back Scott Spedding was sin-binned.
Moyano kicked a 65th-minute penalty to pull Bayonne level but the hero of the Castres game missed another penalty nine minutes later, with Maxime Machenaud sealing victory for Racing with two penalty kicks late on.
