French Top 8 – and other news in brief

Action from CUS Roma's 51-7 win against Belve Neroverdi in Italy's Seria A last weekend (Photo: Claudia Tedeschi)

French Top 8: Champions clear at the top at halfway

At the midway point in the Top 8, champions Montpellier have now opened a three point lead at the top ahead of newcomers Toulouse after Lille lost to BSORF in a thriller in Blagnac.

Montpellier's move to the top was achieved without effort, as they picked up 25 points for their cancelled game against Perpignan - who have withdrawn from the league, but second-placed Toulouse had to battle for their win after the long journey north to Rennes. At half-time only two penalties separated the well-matched teams, with visitors Stade holding a 6-0 advantage - but even that did not last long as Rennes pulled level within the first five minutes of the restart. A third Toulouse penalty and their only try opened up a 14-6 lead for the visitors on the hour, before a Rennes score narrow the gap to a single point resulting in a tension-filled last few minutes, Toulouse eventually winning 17-13.

Although Toulouse were in the north of France, the sensation of the day was happening back in their city where near-neighbours Blagnac St Orens (BSORF) - who had played so poorly against Toulouse in their previous game - gave Lille their first defeat of the season. Lille opened the scoring with an early penalty, but two forwards tries from BSORF gave them a 10-6 lead at the break, which they extended to 15-6 with another effort from the pack soon after the restart. Lille's forwards replied in kind, and with a conversion BSORF lead by only 15-13 with over 20 minutes remaining. However, with the help of a yellow card against Lille a few minutes later, BSORF held out for a deserved victory that puts them into fourth - only a point behind Lille, though the northerners have a game in hand.

That game will be against Bobigny later this month, and the Parisians remain in contention for a play-off spot after a big 46-15 win at home to strugglers Caen.

CLUB

P

W

D

L

PD

BP

Fo

PTS

1

MONTPELLIER R C

7

5

1

1

154

6

0

28

2

STADE TOULOUSAIN RUGBY FEMININ

7

5

1

1

90

3

0

25

3

LILLE METROPOLE RC VILLENEUVOIS

6

4

1

1

118

5

0

23

4

BLAGNAC SAINT ORENS RUGBY FEMININ

7

5

0

2

1

2

0

22

5

A C BOBIGNY 93 RUGBY

6

3

1

2

31

4

0

18

6

STADE RENNAIS RUGBY

7

2

0

5

-37

4

0

12

7

L OVALIE CAENNAISE

7

1

0

6

-182

1

0

5

8

U S A P XV FEMININ ROUSSILLON

7

0

0

7

-175

0

7

-14

Pakistan: First domestic sevens planned

ThePakistan edition of The Express Tribunereports that the first national women's sevens tournament is planned for Lahore. Shazia Shabbir, captain of the national team, said that holding the first ever domestic sevens will take the sport further in the country and empower the women pursuing it.Shazia belongs to Lodhran where women’s rugby took root with the help of Pakistan Rugby Union’s (PRU) Get into Rugby programme.Her region will be fielding two teams in the tournament starting this month, where a total of 12 teams will be competing for the title.

“This is going to be a big event for us,” Shazia, who coaches in her home area, told The Express Tribune. “Lodhran teams are good but we will not be taking this lightly. Our girls are experienced but we have our own challenges. We’ve picked the best players from the 10 teams we have in Lodhran.”

She said that while they were aiming to take the best to the event, several of Lodhran’s top players may miss out due to parental concerns. “We are currently working on convincing them that it’s going to be played in a safe and secure environment. I’ve gotten positive feedback from two families; there are still two more left to convince.”

Other teams taking part include those from the Fata, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Lahore and southern Punjab regions.

Dates for the tournament will be confirmed later.

Australia: Five new sevens contracts

Five new Australian names to watch for in the future: Georgie Friedrichs (20), Demi Hayes (17), Amber Pilley (18), Jayme Fressard (18) and Shanice Parker (17). They all have been given development contracts by the ARU.

Hayes, Fressard and Parker won gold for Australia at the Commonwealth Youth Games, while Pilley missed that tournament through injury but did win gold at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing.

Tim Walsh said: "All five players have impressed the Sevens program while playing at various levels - whether it be for their clubs, state or in the international arena. Handing development contracts to each will give us the opportunity, working with the state unions, to monitor their progress very closely. These players have been identified as potential Commonwealth Games and Olympics representatives so I'm looking forward to seeing how each steps up in the months ahead."

Spain: Madrid and Catalonia reach regional final

As predicted, the regional teams from Catalonia and Madrid won their semi-finals in the Territorial Championship last weekend, after beating Galicia and Valencia respectively.

Tries from Mette Zimmat (4), Raquel Garcia (2), Felez Africa and Axelle Ramón for Catalonia saw off Galicia 49-0, while Madrid were equally impressive with a 40-5 win against Valemcia, with tries from Lucia Diaz (2), Macarena Del Valle, Isabel Macias, Raquel Santiago, Nuria Rodriguez Yurrita and tested for Patricia Madrid, plus a blow and a transformation of Isis Velasco. Cristina Herrero got the only points for Valencia.

Italy: Seria A

Its been a month since we last looked at Seria A in Italy, with the league reaching its midway point this month.

Rugby Monza remain clear leaders of Pool 1, with seven wins from seven - the most crucial being last weekend's 19-8 triumph away to Valsugana Padvova, which was their rival's first loss of the season. The win allows Monza to open up a 12 point lead, though both Valsugana and Benetton Treviso (one point further back in third) have a game in hand. At the bottom of the pool new clubs Rugby Cogoleto and Chicken Pavia continue to struggle, with Cogoleo's only win coming at the expense of Chicken earlier last month. Both have negative points differences of over 300 points after six or seven games, and Chicken Pavia in particular have yet to add to their one try we reported last time.

Pool 2 is developing into an interesting two-horse race between Bologna 1928 and Caravaggio Benevento, who are both unbeaten after six games, something that will have to change when the meet on 20th December. At present Bologna have a narrow four point lead. At the bottom new team Frascati Rugby Club are having almost as tough a time as the new teams in Pool 1, with no wins so far. However Donne Etrusche have picked up their first wins in the top flight, beating Rugby Belve Neroverdi 24-20 two weeks ago, and then Umbria Ragazze away last weekend - results that push the newcomers to fourth in the now eight-team league, ahead of I Medicei who have not added to their first which we reported last time, and who Donne Etrusche meet this weekened. They could yet move above CUS Roma into third before the end of the year as they have a game in hand over all of the teams above them.

The rather more disappointing news is that Città di Frascati - who we reported have forfeited several early games - have now dropped out of the league