Top 14 Rugby Roundup: Racing 92 Claims First Place, Castres Stuns Toulouse, and Montpellier Sinks Further

Racing 92, the roller coaster

This is Paris. Racing 92 celebrated the 250th^e appearance of his winger Juan Imhoff by winning the Ile-de-France derby in front of Stade Français (13-9) which allows him to climb to first place in the ranking (1^is, 23 points).

The Racingmen have not lost at Jean-Bouin since December 3, 2017. On Saturday, they signed an eighth victory in a row thanks to a try by Henry Chavancy (17^e), the only one in a draft match. The rain certainly didn’t help but the Ile-de-France neighbors’ party was cut short. The captain of the South African world champions Siya Kolisi, present in the wings of the Parisian enclosure, was able to assess the scale of the task awaiting him. He should make his home debut, against La Rochelle, in a week.

Castres offers itself to Toulouse

The CO struck a big blow by winning their duel in front of Toulouse (31-23). With this success, the fifth, Castres climbs onto the podium, behind Racing 92 and Stade Français.

The Rouge et Noir are seventh after this third away loss and have not won in the Tarn since 2019.

To pass this test with flying colors, the Castres, with a very good Pierre Popelin, scored four tries by winger Nicolas Hulleau (22^e), the Adrea Cocagi center (43^e), second row Thomas Staniforth (55^e) and pillar Wilfrid Hounkpatin (73^e) to resist the thunderous return from Toulouse.

The teammates of Antoine Dupont, who played at the opening, will have to catch up in a week ahead of Clermont.

Pau lets go of his throne

A surprise team at the start of the season, Pau marked time in Bayonne (35-16) at the end of a match where the two teams played outnumbered after the yellow card of second row Guillaume Ducat (13^e) on the Section side, then that of scrum half Guillaume Rouet (26^e) rowing side.

In this little game, it was the Basques who emerged victorious, thanks to four tries from Paulos (15^e), Huguet (30^e), Mori (43^e) and Rouet (76^e). With this third success of the season, Bayonne regains color and is now in 8th place. It had been eighteen years since Pau had been beaten by the Bayonnais, carried by a gala Camille Lopez (12 points).

Nothing is going well for the MHR

Sixth setback in a row for Montpellier. The 2022 French champion once again tasted defeat, this time on the grounds of the former Perpignan red lantern (23-16).

With only one victory since the start of the season, ahead of La Rochelle (26-15) at the opening of the 2023-2024 Top 14, the Héraultais are sinking further into the crisis by slipping to last place. The enormous waste of Arthur Vincent, all alone in the goal (3^e), was expensive.

In the other matches of the day, Oyonnax won against neighbor Lyon (38-20) while Toulon held off Clermont (30-27) to win its first victory in Auvergne in eight years.

The 7th day of the Top 14 ends on Sunday with the duel between two ambitious teams between La Rochelle and Bordeaux-Bègles (9:05 p.m.).