Saturday 3 January 2015 19:14, UK
Jake White's first game in charge of Montpellier ended in a win over Toulon, while Stade Francais hung on to top spot as all the home teams won in Saturday's Top 14 fixtures.
Racing Metro 12-9 Bordeaux Begles
There were no tries at Stade Yves Du Manoir as Racing Metro edged out Bordeaux-Begles 12-9 on Saturday.
Maxime Machenaud hit two first-half penalties for the home side but Bordeaux fly-half Lionel Beauxis ensured that his side was in front at the break with three penalties of his own.
The second half was largely scoreless as Machenaud waited until the 71st minute before drawing his team level then took them into the lead with just five minutes remaining.
The home side even survived a spell with 14 men on the field after lock Francois van der Merwe was sent to the bin for taking a jumper out in the air during a line-out.
Bordeaux held dominance in the game up to and including the period when Van der Merwe was in the bin, but they were unable to breach the Racing defence and suffered further disappointment when a penalty attempt two minutes from the end was missed, forcing them to settle for a losing bonus point on the road.
Brive 25-9 Bayonne
Brive moved up to ninth in the Top 14 standings after a 25-9 victory over Bayonne on Saturday.
Full-back Gaetan Germain scored all 25 points for his team as he slotted over six penalty attempts before scoring the only try of the game as well as adding the conversion.
Brive were made to work for the win as the boot of Christophe Loustalot kept Bayonne in the game deep into the second half.
The hosts held a slender 12-9 lead before Germain capped off a team effort in the 64th minute to cross the whitewash for a 19-9 lead, before adding two more penalty goals to cap off a relieving 25-9 win for Brive.
Grenoble 33-19 Oyonnax
After suffering back-to-back defeats at the end of 2014, Grenoble returned to winning ways with a bonus-point win over Oyonnax at Stade des Alpes.
Scoring more than 30 points in a home game for the third consecutive time, Grenoble eased past their opponents thanks to tries from Rory Grice, Charl McLeod and winger Xavier Mignot before referee Mathieu Raynal awarded them a penalty try in the 54th minute.
Oyonnax were able to hit back in the 74th minute through right wing Silvere Tian to go with 14 points from the boot of Ben Urdapilleta, but it was not enough as the hosts secured a crucial full complement of league points to start the year in style.
Castres 30-15 La Rochelle
Castres have finally extracted a result that lifts them out of the relegation zone for the first time in two months as they ran out 30-15 winners over La Rochelle at home.
Though Castres will have been happy with the win, they had outscored the visitors four tries to one before letting in a late try in the 71st minute to rob them of a much-needed bonus point..
Tries from Remy Grosso, full-back Geoffrey Palis and flank Piula Faasalele gave Grenoble a 25-8 lead at the break, but they were unable to fully take advantage of their dominance as their opponents managed to outscore them in the second half.
But the fourth try from winger Remy Grosso was enough to ensure victory for Castres, who are now only one point behind 11th-place Oyonnax in the standings.
Montpellier 16-12 Toulon
Jake White got off to the perfect start in the Top 14 as Montpellier downed Toulon 16-12 at Altrad Stadium.
First-half penalties from Benoit Paillaugue and Toulon’s Leigh Halfpenny kept the scores locked at 6-6 at half-time before Halfpenny edged the visitors in front with a third effort early in the second half.
Montpellier enjoyed dominance in the set piece, and were given further advantage when referee Romain Poite sent second rower Romain Taofifenua to the bin after spotting him trip Paillaugue on the big screen.
Montpellier cashed in on the extra man immediately as they sent a driving maul over the line with flanker Alex Tulou emerging with the ball after Poite awarded the try.
Ben Lucas added the conversion to give Montpellier a 13-9 lead going into the final quarter. The Australian added a penalty in the 64th minute, giving his team a crucial 16-9 lead but Halfpenny was able to grab his team a losing bonus point with another penalty late in the game.
