Clermont raised his head on Sunday during the 14th day of Top 14 by putting an end to the Hameau de Pau stadium (42-31) to a series of three losses.
Even if the Pau were the first to shoot, the Auvergne club did not panic to sign, after a spectacular match (8 tries) globally mastered, a success that allows it to relaunch in the race for the final stages.
For Pau, the improvement will have been short-lived after the victory against the French Stadium at the end of 2020: this fourth setback of the season at home is more than ever synonymous with the fight for maintenance.
The Section had started off with a bang with two quick tries from opener Antoine Hastoy and winger Eoghan Barrett in the first ten minutes.
Clermont suffered then in conquest, between lost touches and scrum caught at fault. Enough to allow Pau to drive the point home with a third try before the 20th minute (22-7).
But Clermont’s shortcomings were counterbalanced by the talent of their individualities: that of the center George Moana but also of the conductor Camille Lopez or the wingers Bastien Pourailly and Damian Penaud, domineering on each ball catch.
Their brilliance allowed Clermont to pick up the score at half-time (25-25), before a second act more to his advantage.
Pau, on the retreat, initially took advantage of Auvergne’s faults to briefly resume control thanks to Hastoy’s penalties (31-25).
But the athletic supremacy of Clermont, coupled with the power of the substitutes, made their return inexorable and two tries from Peceli Yato and Tim Nanai Williams have definitely sealed the fate of the match.
Clermont had not won in the Top 14 since November 27, already away, in Castres. And here is the ASM, with the respondent, in 8th place in the championship.
Bordeaux-Bègles impresses against the LOU
In the other meeting of the afternoon, Bordeaux-Bègles confirmed its revival at the expense of Lyon, rolled (31-9) Sunday during the 14th day of the Top 14, and remains in contact with a Top 6 where seats will be very expensive.
If he was looking for a reference match, Christophe Urios surely found it. Faced with a LOU who completed his rugby marathon of three matches in nine days in Chaban and suddenly lacked flame or second wind at times, the UBB, in verve in attack, impervious in defense, responded present and enhanced a major success.
This match was summed up in two cycles of ten minutes. The first ten, exclusively from Lyon, put the Girondine defense to work, but the latter, organized and fierce, finally released only a successful penalty by Léo Berdeu (10th).
Then, at the end of the first quarter of an hour, the Union feasted for ten minutes, shaking the LOU on each impact by a constant advance. Result, Lyon cracked where Bordeaux had held, and in great width: three tests conceded including a double from the Argentine winger Bautista Delguy for his first at Chaban.
On the hour mark, the Girondins scored a fourth time by the incoming Jandre Marais, after a new Delguy eel festival.
Brive overthrows Montpellier
A little earlier on Sunday, Brive, long feverish and led 19-0 at the break by a serious Montpellier, managed to make up for its delay and win at the last minute on a conquering penalty (23-22).
We knew that the CAB had character, it proved it again against the MHR who, four days after bringing back a promising defensive bonus point from Lyon, did not go the distance to maintain a success which nevertheless held out the arm after an almost founding first act.
The men of Jeremy Davidson, with their heart, their virtues and a sustained harassment of the visiting line during the last quarter of an hour, had the skin of those of Philippe Saint-André, constantly on the retreat during a second half. -one way time.
This success allows Corréziens to distance themselves from the barrage position still occupied by Hérault residents who will have to find new levers to extricate themselves from it.
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