Castres well established on the podium
Without convincing, Castres remains solid. With this 20th consecutive match without defeat in its fortress of Pierre-Fabre, a record in the history of the club, the CO can even dream of second place in the Top 14, directly qualifying for the semi-finals.
It is only one length before the trip from Bordeaux-Bègles on Sunday to the leader, Montpellier, and its calendar for the last three days, rather favorable on paper (Biarritz, Perpignan and Pau) compared to its direct competitors. , pleads in its favour.
For the Auvergnats, the qualification moves away on the other hand. Eighth, they will no longer have the right to make mistakes during their last three outings (Stade français, Biarritz, Montpellier) to hope to grab the top 6.
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Under a torrential rain, the two teams were forced to revise their ambitions downwards and to rely mainly on combat and the game at the foot of occupation.
Tailor-made for the Tarnais, who were able to rely on several of their usual strengths: a heroic defense, the reliability of their back Julien Dumora under the high balls and the solid foot of Urdapilleta.
The Argentinian fly-half, back from injury, scored his team’s 12 points, four out of four against the poles, even while sliding. Already victorious in the first leg at the Michelin stadium (34-30), the CO, despite a yellow card at the start of the second period and a copiously dominated scrum, was able to contain until the end, without panicking, the Clermont inclinations.
The conclusion of a good week, marked by the extensions of two of its executives, the right pillar Wilfrid Hounkpatin and the Fijian center three-quarter Adrea Cocagi. And a nice tribute to his former South African third line Pedrie Wannenburg, who died in a car accident on Friday.
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Stade Français returns to success
Beaten three times in a row in the Ile-de-France derby by Racing 92 – twice in the round of 16 of the European Cup and once in the Top 14 – the French stadium revived by regaining victory against Pau (21- 18, after their last success last month against Stade Toulouse.
The Parisians, 11th now, have 49 points, come back to a point of Pau (10th) and especially to 4 units of Clermont, eighth, last qualifying place for the European Cups next season. Despite the defensive bonus, the Pau Section saw its good momentum, with 3 victories including 2 away, stopped and its dreams of qualification shattered at the Jean-Bouin stadium.
The Parisians, dominated at the start of the meeting by the Section, took advantage of the interception of winger Adrien Lapègue to score the first try (5-0, 6th), then Lester Etien resisted the return of Thomas Carol to flatten in the Pau in-goal (10-0.16th). Too undisciplined, penalized 6 times in the first half, Quesada’s men could have been almost caught before the break, but Section opening half Antoine Hastoy missed two of his three kicks (10-3, 40th).
The Parisians believed for a time that they could even pocket the offensive bonus after a try from Pierre-Henri Azagoh on a carried ball (18-6, 68th), before the Béarnais came back to score thanks to a double from Hastoy (18-18 , 72nd). Stade Français was finally able to take the lead with a final penalty on a ball scraped by Sekou Macalou to win (21-18).
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