Top 14 Round up - Week 9

Round 9 of the Top 14 kicked off on Friday evening with Jake White’s Montpellier taking on struggling La Rochelle. Two Australian imports provided the spark for Montpellier’s only try, with Jessie Mogg going close before Ben Mowen finally rumbled over from close range. The remaining damage was done by the boot of Catakillis and Montpellier ran out 25-10 winners to see them move into the top 6. La Rochelle meanwhile remain four from bottom.

Saturday began with a top of the table clash between Racing 92 and Toulouse in Paris. Dan Carter’s debut will have to wait as Remi Tales continued in the number 10 jersey for Racing. He controlled the game as they ran out comfortable winners 28-1 against Toby Flood and co. Now in second place, Racing seem to have finally found some consistency and their Galacticos are gelling well under coach Laurent Labit. Add Dan Carter to the mix and they will be serious contenders this year.

Castres left it late to overcome Agen with a 75^th minute try from winger Julien Caminati sealing the win. Both these teams have struggled so far this season with Castres in 9^th and Agen second from bottom. This away win could prove to be a turning point for Castres in their search for a playoff place and European qualification.

Bordeaux were on great form as they easily disposed of Pau 46-10 on the French east coast. Scrum half, Yann Lesgourges, scored a hat-trick and Rafael Ibanez’s men ran in six tries in total to move up to 7thin the table.

Bottom of the table Oyonnax continued their losing streak with a 9-34 defeat at home to Brive. Gaetan Germain put in a man of the match performance for Brive at fullback, scoring 29 points and putting himself in contention for the French national squad. Racing may well regret letting this man go.

The biggest upset of the weekend saw Toulon destroy Clermont at their fortress Marcel Michelin. Despite Clermont sitting at the top to the table and having never lost at home to Toulon, they fell to a 9-35 defeat with Drew Mitchell and Delon Armitage both running in tries. Parra kept Clermont in contention for much of the first half, but Toulon were just to strong and a yellow card for Bardy along with a penalty try saw Les Toulonnais run out comfortable victors and move up to third in the table.

The final game saw Stade Francais earn a valuable away win against Grenoble. Jules Plisson kicked all the points in a 19-21 victory for the Parisians to give their season a kick start and move them up to 10^th in the league

So 9 rounds in and Clermont continue to lead the way, closely followed by Racing and Toulon. At the other end of the table Oyonnax continue to struggle along with Pau and Agen and there’s no surprise that the teams with the big budgets continue to dominate. Last season’s champions Stade continue to struggle while Brive remain the surprise package lying in 5^th place.