Top 14 – 13th day: Bayonne points its nose on the podium, the big blow for Montpellier in Clermont

Marcel-Michelin is no longer an impregnable fortress. Undefeated since the start of the season at home, Clermont fell into its lair, dominated by Montpellier on Saturday. The Héraultais signed the first very big blow of this Boxing Day of the Top 14. The MHR was notably able to count on Stuart Hogg, decisive with the quality of his foot in the second period

The Scotsman scored four penalties after returning from the locker room to punish the Auvergne’s numerous indiscipline. In control of the game thanks to a double from hooker Etienne Fourcade in eight minutes (19′, 27′), the Jaunards then came up against a solid Montpellier defense until the end of the match. Christophe Urios’ men must be content with the defensive bonus, snatched with a full minute to go. But they missed the opportunity to get closer to the top of the table, while Montpellier got closer to a balanced record (seventh with six wins for seven defeats) at the end of the first leg.

For the last one at Jean-Dauger in 2024, we did not experience the match of the year, far from it. In a festival of clumsiness and technical inaccuracies, Bayonne was finally able to please its audience by dominating Castres with a much clearer score than the manner was. Rowing had the merit of knowing how to convert the numerous gifts, in the spirit of Christmas, Castres like the second try signed Giovanni Habel-Kuffner, who came to snatch a ball from the in-goal that the visitors had wanted to throw back since behind the posts (73rd). Sireli Maqala brought his personal total of tries this season to ten units in the final seconds on a counter-attack.

This victory without much brilliance, however, has real weight in the ranking, since the Bayonnais temporarily climb onto the podium of the Top 14. Castres signs a third setback in a row at the end of the year and puts itself at the mercy of a serious decline in the classification.

It was the duel of fear, with the move of the red lantern, Vannes, to the lands of Pau, the team which before this 13th act preceded the Bretons in the ranking. In this meeting which was so expensive for the two clubs in their quest to maintain, it was the Section, in its lair of the Hamlet, which took (clearly) the upper hand. The RCV had however started well by scoring the first try and led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter of an hour then again 10-7 in the 22nd minute, before the storm rumbled.

The game really changed at the very end of the first period when the Section scored ten points just before returning to the locker room. The 40th try, signed Aymeric Luc, hurt the Bretons. The break was done for good (27-10) and the second act only confirmed the control of the Béarnais who added three additional tries by Maddocks, Gorgadze and Desperes. With these five points on the clock, the transition to the new year will be a little smoother in Pau…