Montpellier and Racing 92 lead the way in the Top14
Montpellier maintained their perfect start to the Top 14 season on Sunday, while Racing 92 moved to second in the table.
Early league leaders Montpellier were winners for the fourth game running as they saw off Toulon 43-20 at Alstrad Stadium – giving them a five-point cushion at the summit.
Aaron Cruden, Nemani Nadolo, Paul Willemse, Joseph Tomane and Francois Steyn scored the home side, who also benefited from a 65th-minute penalty try.
Toulon had led after seven minutes when Josua Tuisova went over, but only a second-half Chris Ashton try followed for the visitors after Francois Trinh-Duc's 47th minute penalty.
Earlier in the day, Racing had beaten Oyonnax 25-13 in Colombes.
Leone Nakarawa, Virimi Vakatawa and Marc Andreu all touched down before half-time, with penalties from Dan Carter and Maxime Machenaud completing their win.
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Spot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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