Stade crush Toulouse
Stade Français recorded their biggest win of the season as they trounced a below-par Toulouse.
Last Updated: 08/01/11 5:54pm
Stade Français recorded their biggest win of the season as they trounced a below-par Toulouse side at the Stade de France.
Toulouse were a shadow of the side that has dominated in the Top 14 and Heineken Cup this season as they were outmuscled by their Parisian hosts.
While Montpellier and Perpignan played out a try-less 12-all draw, Biarritz ran riot against Agen.
Biarritz took sweet revenge for their defeat in Agen earlier this season, running no fewer than ten tries past their hapless visitors.
La Rochelle scored a major victory in the race to avoid relegation, securing a bonus-point win on the road to doomed Bourgoin.
Bayonne were the big winners in the battle for the play-offs, snatching a narrow win at home to Castres with a last-gasp try.
Montpellier HR 12-12 USA Perpignan
A fair result in an equally-matched affair as Perpignan's grunt was matched by Montpellier's movement.
Perpignan will however travel back down the Mediterranean coast harbouring regrets for failing to make the most of their opportunities.
Montpellier maintain their unbeaten record at home and are guaranteed to finish the weekend in the leading trio.
Perpignan had the lion's share of possession in the first half but were unable to do much with it. The Catalans held a 6-3 lead at half-time but it was the home side that looked far more dangerous on attack.
Jerome Porical and Martin Moyano continued to trade penalties until the Argentine drew the hosts level at 12-12 with ten minutes left to play.
Montpellier plied on the pressure in the closing stages but were unable to crack the Catalan defence.
Aviron Bayonnais 25-22 Castres Olympique
A massive result for Bayonne, who needed a 78th minute try from Moroccan loose forward Abdellatif Boutaty to save the day.
Drop-goals from Benjamin Boyet and Pepito Elhorga helped Bayonne to a 15-9 lead at half-time, but Chris Masoe scored for Castres with half an hour left to put the visitors 16-15 ahead.
Cedric Garcia and Romain Teulet traded penalties to set up a grandstand finish.
A late yellow card for Castres lock Mathias Rolland for a tackle without the ball proved decisive, as the hosts used their extra man to drive towards the line in the dying minutes before Boutaty forced his way over.
The result sees Bayonne close in on Castres with the sides now separated by a single point in sixth and seventh.
Biarritz Olympique 65-22 SU Agen
No worries for Biarritz, who ran in ten tries, including hat-tricks for loose forward Wenceslas Lauret and hooker Benoît August and two for American wing Takudzwa Ngwenya.
BO got off to a flyer, scoring four tries in the first half to take a 34-3 lead into the break.
Lauret, Ngwenya and Damien Traille all celebrated their new contracts with early tries before August scored the first of his three.
Like the first half, it was one-way traffic in the second as the Basques ran riot although Tongan lock Lisiate Fa'aoso managed to touch down for the visitors.
Agen scored two tries in the final four minutes (Fono and Machenaud) to save some face when Biarritz had already switched off.
CS Bourgoin-Jallieu 7-44 Stade Rochelais Atlantique
This signals the end of the road for Bourgoin who will surely be relegated, whether they win or lose their appeal against their five-point deduction.
The hosts did most of the playing in the first half but a number of handling errors allowed La Rochelle top score two tries on the counter attack to lead 17-0 at half time.
Bourgoin full-back Sylver Tian pulled a try back in the second period, but when Fijian flyer Norman Ligairi scored La Rochelle's third soon afterwards, the writing was on the wall.
Les Maritimes scored two more tries, including a penalty try, in the last ten minutes to secure a bonus point and climb out of the relegation zone.
Stade Français 31-3 Stade Toulousain
Stade Français will paint Paris pink after they took revenge for the drubbing they received in this fixture last year.
Toulouse seemed to have their minds on next week's Heineken Cup clash with Dragons as they failed to turn up in the physical confrontation and kicked possession away too often.
Toulouse sent a strong side to the capital but without injured fly-half David Skrela and with Thierry Dusautoir starting on the bench, the league leaders were lacking direction at the back and were worked over at the breakdown.
Julien Arias gave Stade Français a 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter when Vincent Clerc recklessly tried to keep the ball in play from a probing Lionel Beauxis kick. Arias kicked up the loose ball to score unopposed in the corner.
Ollie Philips was sent to the bin for his late tackle on Cedric Heymans but Toulouse were unable to capitalise and saw the hosts extend their lead to 16-3 as Julien Dupuy slotted three penalties.
The Parisians pressed home their advantage in the second half as Beauxis collected his own grubber to break clear before off-loading to Mathieu Bastareaud.
James Haskell sealed a memorable win for the hosts, scoring next to the posts after a charge by Laurent Sempéré.
