Hugo Auradou. Three months after his last official match, the Argentina-France which preceded the night of the alleged acts of aggravated rape for which he is indicted with the Rochelais Oscar Jegou, the second row of Pau returned to the fields of Top 14. He played 74 minutes and had a decent match, without waves, in Perpignan where the Palois lost (11-10). The Aimé-Giral stadium remained mostly indifferent to his presence.
Louis Carbonel. The Stade Français opener erased the nightmare of his previous home match, against Toulon. Under downpours of rain, his missed attempts were the symbol of Parisian failings and he was left at half-time then left to rest against Pau. Against Montpellier, returning after the break, he was the one who ignited the spark of his team by piercing the first defensive curtain before launching his winger Dakuaqa on trial. Before going on to a 5/5 against the poles for a Parisian victory 29-20.
Paul Boudehent. Two tries against Lyon, the last of which was close to the siren to win the offensive bonus (43-22), 80 minutes still full: the French international from La Rochelle (11 caps) is coming back strong. He missed the end of last season due to a hamstring injury but has returned to the forefront since coming on in Toulouse on the second day.
2. The numbers
8. Like the number of players, all three-quarters, who started during the first five days of Top 14: Toulouse’s Blair Kinghorn and Thomas Ramos, Racingmen Owen Farrell, Gaël Fickou, Josua Tuisova and Samuel James, Bayonne’s Sireli Maqala and Montpellier Madosh Tambwe, the only one to have played all of the matches.
3. the number of points scored in the second period between Perpignan and Pau. And again: Usap’s winning penalty by Antoine Aucagne was scored three minutes after the siren. With only 21 points scored (11-10), the meeting is the poorest in points since the start of the season, which has mainly shone with big scores.
6. Like the number of points for Vannes and Montpellier, who occupy the last two places in the Top 14. A small gap of three lengths has already widened with the 12th, Bayonne. The two teams meet the next day, in Hérault, in a match that is already decisive for maintenance.
3. Declas
“Everyone talks to us about what we have been, but the important thing is what we are going to become. There are times when we are brilliant […] and sometimes we pedal a little next to the bike,” regrets Ugo Linethe coach of Toulouse, after his team’s defeat at Castres (28-23).
