Despite a meeting which struggled to reach a high level of intensity, the Montpellier team nevertheless did what was necessary in the closed scrum and in the ground game to win with an offensive bonus. Montpellier's second row Yacouba Camara had a (very) great match, as did his scrum half Léo Coly while Wilfrid Hounkpatin personified Montpellier's domination in the scrum sector. In this chaos, pillar Guram Papidze sank and Joe Simmonds appeared without a solution.
The tops
Yacouba Camara
What a match from the second line! Once again, Yacouba Camara was once again among the best elements of his team. A tireless warrior, we saw him snatch at least two balls from the arms of Palois, overwhelmed by his flawless commitment. He also showed exceptional endurance by playing the entire match while still finding the resources to sprint in the 76th minute and score a solo try after a good breakthrough from Thomas Vincent.
Leo Coly
In a relatively locked-down meeting which never really got going, the MHR can be happy to have benefited from the precise boot of its scrum half. Patient, the Montpellier residents built their first half well, taking points when they had the chance and Coly transformed these opportunities into points. Author of a 3/4 against the poles as well as a try, Coly had scored all of his team's points before Yacouba Camara's try, also very prominent on Saturday evening.
Wilfrid Hounkaptin
Despite some sometimes surprising decisions, the Montpellier scrum clearly dominated its Pau counterpart, who was penalized six times throughout the game. A substantial total, to which right-hander Wilfrid Hounkpatin is no stranger. He first dominated Lekso Kaulashvili before doing the same with Daniel Bibi-Biziwu.
The flops
I push Papidze
The performance of the Georgian right pillar, particularly also in closed scrums, is symbolic of Montpellier's domination in this sector. Caught on impact, pushed, punished with a yellow card, suffering in collisions, Papidze did not have a very good end of the afternoon like his “colleagues” on the front line , he suffered enormously from the comparison.
Joe Simmonds
He did not weigh on the meeting. We did not recognize the manager and playing master of Exeter! However, we cannot say that Thomas Vincent, his direct opponent, put a lot of pressure on him, but the Englishman never managed to create anything on the Pau side. A match to forget or get rid of very quickly.
Notes from Montpellier :
- 15. Julien Tisseron: 5/10
- 14. Maël Moustin: 6/10
- 13. Auguste Cadot: 6/10
- 12. Jan Serfontein : 7/10
- 11. Gabriel Ngandebe : 5/10
- 10. Thomas Vincent : 5/10
- 9. Leo Coly: 7.5/10
- 8. Billy Vunipola : 7/10
- 7. Alexandre Bécognée: 6/10
- 6. Nicolaas Janse Van Rensburg : 6.5/10
- 5. Bastien Chalureau: 6.5/10
- 4. Yacouba Camara: 8/10
- 3. Wilfrid Hounkpatin : 7/10
- 2. Jordan Wales : 6,5/10
- 1. Baptiste Erdocio: 5/10
Pau’s notes:
- 15. Jack Maddocks (not rated), replaced by Clément Laporte (26e) : 4/10
- 14. Clément Laporte (noted above), replaced by Axel Desperes (14e) : 3,5/10
- 13. Olivier Klemenczak: 4/10
- 12. Nathan Decron : 5/10
- 11. Aymeric Luc : 5/10
- 10. Joe Simmonds : 3/10
- 9. Thibault Daubagna : 4,5/10
- 7. Loic Credoz : 4/10
- 8. Sacha Zegueur: 4/10
- 6. Joel Kpoku :4/10
- 5. Remi Picquette: 4/10
- 4. Hugo Auradou: 4/10
- 3. Guram Papidze: 3/10
- 2. Romain Ruffenach : 4/10
- 1. Lekso Kaulashvili : 3.5/10
