Agen humiliated by Lyon, La Rochelle go top

Agen's return to the Top 14 plumbed new depths on Saturday as they were thrashed 71-17 by Lyon, leaving coach Mauricio Reggiardo humiliated.

The south-west side have only won five of their 16 matches since promotion from the second tier, their latest clash an 11th reverse of the campaign as they remain in the bottom two.

Lyon were rampant at Stade Gerland as they ran in four tries in the opening 40 minutes, and they refused to let up with another 43 points after the break.

Across the 80 minutes Lyon touched down 10 times, with Baptiste Couilloud scoring a hat-trick and Lionel Beauxis finishing with 20 points.

That left Reggiardo in apologetic mood after full-time, he told reporters: "I feel humiliated, Lyon humiliated us, I apologise to the supporters, volunteers and families who support us."

La Rochelle moved above Montpellier at the top of the table with a 33-24 victory over struggling Brive, tries from Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Eliott Roudil and Jason Eaton sealing the win.

Brive threatened a comeback in the second half but La Rochelle were able to hang on and get back to winning ways after a draw with bottom side Oyonnax in their previous Top 14 outing.

Racing 92 are level on points with La Rochelle after an 18-13 victory over Castres.

There was nothing to split the teams after 40 minutes, but a second-half try from Juan Imhoff – back from a five-week suspension – and a penalty from Teddy Iribaren secured a narrow win for Racing.

Toulon ended a run of three successive league defeats with a six-try triumph over Bordeaux-Begles, Semi Radradra with a brace.

Even the dismissal of Josua Tuisova for a high tackle on Blair Connor in the 33rd minute could not stop Toulon getting the win.

Meanwhile, last-place Oyonnax's winless streak stretched to 13 league matches as they were beaten 37-15 by Toulouse.