Two horse race developing in France
As we near halfway, four big wins in the French Top 8 last weekend seem have crystallised the title challenge down to two main challengers.
Published by John Birch, November 12th, 2014
3 minute read
The first of these is Lille. The trip down to Paris to meet the star-studded Bobigny team threatened to be the northerners’ biggest challenge so far. Despite missing Marion Lièvre and Assa Koïta the Parisians still have a backline of international class but they had little answer to the Lille pack, who ensured that the home side were starved of possession. The result was a 27-5 bonus-point win, the only 100% record, and a nine point lead at the top.
However, that gap will inevitably close as in second-place the champions Montpellier have a game in hand against bottom-placed La Valette. Last weekend saw them brush past sixth-placed Caen, with a six-try 34-15 win. After a shaky start to the season the “ladybirds” of Montpellier are now back on form.
The one surprise result came at Perpignan where the revitalised Catalonian team went down 22-10 to Blagnac St Orens, who have been looking great at home his season but less sure-footed away.
However, to show that form can mean little, BSORF dominated Perpignan, completely controlling the first 20 minutes which was rewarded with reward a try for Manon André thanks to an excellent dummy and race to the line..Perpignan, on the other hand – missing the influence of Christelle Le Duff - made repeated errors, giving up repeated possession to their opponents, who made the most of their hosts generosity. The second half was much like the first with BSORF adding two more tries from Lagrange and Escande.
However BSORF did not have it entirely their own way, and a Perpignan try was sufficient to prevent the visitors taking away a bonus point – which could be important with five teams competing for four semi-final places.
The final game was the most predictable of them all. Bottom placed La Valette, rapidly losing sight of the rest of the league, went down to another large defeat, this time 30-3 at home to Rennes, who began the day only one place above them but finished in sixth
Next weekend sees the end of the first half of the league phase, with the fixtures dominated by Montpellier’s trip to Lille. Montpellier remain Lille’s nemesis – the only team that they have never beaten since their promotion to the top division four years ago. It promises to be a fascinating game.
CLUB
P
W
D
L
PD
PTS
1
LILLE METROPOL RC VILLENEUVOIS
6
6
0
0
87
27
2
MONTPELLIER R C
5
4
0
1
30
18
3
U S A P XV FEMININ ROUSSILLON
6
3
0
3
55
16
4
A C BOBIGNY 93 RUGBY
6
3
0
3
-8
14
4
BLAGNAC SAINT ORENS RUGBY FEMININ
6
3
0
3
13
14
6
STADE RENNAIS RUGBY
6
2
0
4
7
12
7
L OVALIE CAENNAISE
6
2
0
4
-57
9
8
RUGBY CLUB VALETTOIS REVESTOIS
5
0
0
5
-127
1