Castres thrashed Toulouse 52-7 to deny the 19-time champions a play-off berth for the first time in 41 years.
In other action, Bayonne beat Grenoble in the battle of the two relegated teams while Clermont and Toulon secured away victories over Lyon and Bordeaux-Bègles and Pau claimed a narrow home win over Brive.
Results
Saturday
Castres 52-7 Toulouse
Bayonne 43-35 Grenoble
Lyon 20-23 Clermont Auvergne
Pau 32-27 Brive
Bordeaux-Bègles 13-26 Toulon
Castres 52-7 Toulouse
Stade Pierre Antoine, Castres
Castres went a long way to securing their Top 14 play-off place as they scored six tries in a dominant 52-7 triumph over a hapless Toulouse outfit.
It was yet another shoddy performance by Ugo Mola’s men who appear set to finish in 12th place after conceding five second half scores.
They were initially competitive, despite going 10-0 down through Alex Tulou’s try and Benjamin Urdapilleta’s penalty, as Luke McAlister went over, but they meekly succumbed in the second period.
Julien Caminati (twice), Brice Mach, Urdapilleta and Julien Dumora all crossed the whitewash to take the hosts to the brink of a top-six finish.
The scorers:
For Castres:
Tries: Tulou, Caminati 2, Mach, Urdapilleta, Dumora
Cons: Urdapilleta 5
Pens: Urdapilleta 4
For Toulouse:
Try: McAlister
Con: McAlister
Yellow Card: Huget
Castres: 15 Pierre Berard, 14 Julien Caminati, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit.
Replacements: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Antoine Dupont, 21 Julien Dumora, 22 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 23 Damien Tussac.
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Arthur Bonneval, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Sebastien Bezy, 8 Tala Gray, 7 Piula Fa’asalele, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Leonard Ghiraldini, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Edwin Maka, 19 Gillian Galan, 20 Yacouba Camara, 21 Samuel Marques, 22 Yann David, 23 Maks Van Dyk.
Referee: Adrien Descottes
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Carrillo, Thomas Dejean
TMO: Maxime Chalon
Bayonne 43-35 Grenoble
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
The Top 14’s two relegated clubs played out an entertaining end of season affair as bottom placed Bayonne overcame Grenoble 43-35.
Most of the action took place in the first period with the teams contributing seven tries in all. Five of those went to the hosts as Gabiriele Lovobalavu, who was also yellow carded, and Martin Laveau both touched down twice, while Kade Poki also went over.
Although the visitors crossed the whitewash through Fabien Alexandre and Armand Batlle before the interval, Toma’Akino Taufa’s second half effort completed the win.
At that point, the home side had the bonus-point, but it was rather symptomatic of their season that they should let their guard down and allow Alexandre Dardet and Edward Sawailau to score and take that away.
The scorers:
For Bayonne:
Tries: Laveau 2, Lovobalavu 2, Poki, Taufa
Cons: Moyano 5
Pens: Moyano
Yellow Card: Lovobalavu
For Grenoble:
Tries: Alexandre, Batlle, Dardet, Sawailau
Cons: Bosch, Wisniewski 2
Pens: Bosch 3
Bayonne: 15 Martin Bustos Moyano, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Felix Le Bourhis, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Kade Poki, 10 Lucas Meret, 9 Bastien Duhalde, 8 Jean Monribot, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Tanerau Latimer, 5 Pelu Taele, 4 Pablo Huete, 3 Richard Choirat, 2 Gregory Arganese, 1 Aretz Iguiniz.
Replacements: 16 Simon Labouyrie, 17 Jerome Schuster, 18 Adam Jaulhac, 19 Jean-Jo Marmouyet, 20 Emmanuel Saubusse, 21 Benjamin Thiery, 22 Romain Martial, 23 Toma’Akino Taufa.
Grenoble: 15 Clement Gelin, 14 Armand Batlle, 13 Maritino Nemani, 12 Nigel Hunt, 11 Edward Sawailau, 10 Gilles Bosch, 9 David Mele, 8 Fabien Alexandre, 7 Peter Kimlin, 6 Mathias Marie, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Mickael Capelli, 3 Ali Oz, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Alexandre Dardet, 17 Dylan Jacquot, 18 Hendrik Roodt, 19 Loic Baradel, 20 Lilian Saseras, 21 Jonathan Wisniewski, 22 Lucas Dupont, 23 Dayna Edwards.
Referee: Sebastien Minery
Assistant Referees: Vincent Blasco-Baque, Patrick Beuriot
TMO: Jean-Marie Piraveau
Lyon 20-23 Clermont Auvergne
Matmut Stadium, Venissieux
Clermont Auvergne moved above Montpellier into second place in the table after the injury-stricken outfit impressively overcame in-form Lyon 23-20.
Although their closest rivals for that position play leaders La Rochelle tomorrow, Clermont have given themselves an excellent chance of claiming a home semi-final.
Despite the ultimately close scoreline, the visitors controlled much of the contest and deservedly led at the interval thanks to Alivereti Raka’s try and the accurate kicking of Ludovic Radosavljevic.
Lyon had won four of their previous five games but their discipline let them down with Napolioni Nalaga and Albertus Buckle both seeing yellow cards.
The hosts did manage tries by Deon Fourie and Stephane Clement but it was not enough and Auvergne took the spoils.
The scorers:
For Lyon:
Tries: Fourie, Clement
Cons: Harris, Beauxis
Pens: Harris 2
Yellow Cards: Nalaga, Buckle
For Clermont Auvergne:
Try: Raka
Pens: Fernandez, Radosavljevic 5
Yellow Card: Grosso
Lyon: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Hemani Paea, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Mike Harris, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Thibault Privat, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 David Attoub, 2 Ti’i Paulo, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Stephane Clement, 18 Josh Bekhuis, 19 Julien Puricelli, 20 Agustin Figuerola, 21 Taiasina Tuifua, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Francisco Gomez Kodela.
Clermont: 15 Setariki Tuicuvu, 14 Alivereti Raka, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Remy Grosso, 10 Patricio Fernandez, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Camille Gerondeau, 7 Viktor Kolelishvili, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Clement Ric, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Etienne Falgoux.
Replacements: 16 Yohan Beheregaray, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Otari Giorgadze, 20 Charlie Cassang, 21 Atila Septar, 22 Nick Abendanon, 23 Aaron Jarvis.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant Referees: Tual Trainini, Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Eric Gauzins
Pau 32-27 Brive
Stade du Hameau, Pau
Pau came from 10 points down to boost their play-off prospects by defeating fellow top-six contenders Brive 32-27.
Benjamin Petre and Thomas Laranjeira both touched down while sharp-shooter Gaetan Germain was on target three times off the tee as the visitors took a 17-7 advantage.
Although Watisoni Votu crossed the whitewash, the hosts were struggling for continuity but they gradually eased themselves into the contest via Tom Taylor and Thibault Daubagna penalties.
Votu and Benjamin Lapeyre then traded efforts at the start of the second period before a two-try burst, which included one from replacement hooker Quentin Lespiaucq, gave Pau an eight-point cushion.
Brive did rescue a losing bonus-point via Germain’s three-pointer, but a place in the play-offs now seems highly unlikely.
The scorers:
For Pau:
Tries: Votu 2, Lespiaucq, Penalty Try
Cons: Taylor 3
Pens: Taylor, Daubagna
For Brive:
Tries: Petre, Laranjeira, Lapeyre
Cons: Germain 3
Pens: Germain 2
Yellow Cards: Lavergne, Iribaren
Pau: 15 Tom Taylor, 14 Julien Fumat, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Brandon Fajardo, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Masalosalo Tutaia, 3 Sylvain Charlet, 2 Quentin Lespiaucq, 1 Jamie Mackintosh.
Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Jeremy Hurou, 18 Fabrice Metz, 19 Pierrick Gunther, 20 Daniel Ramsay, 21 Thibault Daubagna, 22 Romain Buros, 23 Malik Hamadache.
Brive: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Benito Masilevu, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Benjamin Petre, 11 Benjamin Lapeyre, 10 Nicolas Bezy, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Petrus Hauman, 7 Fabien Sanconnie, 6 Said Hireche, 5 Jan Uys, 4 Julien Ledevedec, 3 Damien Jourdain, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Damien Lavergne.
Replacements: 16 Francois Da Ros, 17 Karlen Asieshvili, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Poutasi Luafutu, 20 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 21 Thomas Laranjeira, 22 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 23 Soso Bekoshvili.
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant Referees: Cedric Marchat, Thierry Guilloton
TMO: Thomas Charabas
Bordeaux-Bègles 13-26 Toulon
Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux
Toulon’s fine end of season form continued as they effectively secured their play-off place following a comfortable 26-13 victory over Bordeaux-Bègles.
The hosts struggled to deal with the sheer physicality of the three-time European Champions, with Leigh Halfpenny ready to pounce whenever Bordeaux infringed at the breakdown.
He kicked three penalties in the first half and added a conversion to Guilhem Guirado’s try as they went into the interval 16-3 ahead.
Although the visitors saw Florian Fresia and Juan Smith sin-binned just before the break, they maintained their control on the encounter and extended their buffer through the boot of Halfpenny.
Liam Gill then touched down as Toulon made it three domestic victories in succession, despite Jean-Marcellin Buttin crossing the whitewash for Bordeaux in the final minute.
The scorers:
For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Try: Buttin
Cons: Serin
Pens: Serin 2
Yellow Card: Cobilas
For Toulon:
Tries: Guirado, Gill
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny 4
Yellow Cards: Fresia, Smith
Bordeaux: 15 Darly Domvo, 14 Nans Ducuing, 13 Jean-Baptiste Dubie, 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Baptiste Serin, 9 Yann Lesgourgues, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 Jandre Marais, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Benat Auzqui, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Cyril Cazeaux, 19 Luke Braid, 20 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 21 Simon Hickey, 22 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 23 Marc Clerc.
Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Juandre Kruger, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Florian Fresia.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Mamuka Gorgodze, 19 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Anthony Belleau, 21 James O’Connor, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Levan Chilachava.
Referee: Salem Attalah
Assistant Referees: Laurent Cardona, Akim Hadj-Bachir
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure
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