Oh for Jonny is lament of Toulon’s sad faithful
Just two games in and a twittered lament of a Toulon fan told the story, ‘this season is going to be long'. Pointless after a humiliating home defeat by Racing and another now at Pau, the glory days of Jonny Wilkinson have that nostalgic, sepia tint. And to think they led by seven points before careless hands and some effective counter-rucking from Pau led to their downfall.
Toulon managed just three more points as ex-All Black legend Colin Slade kicked four penalties before his compatriot Tom Taylor sealed a 20-10 win with one of his own.
Hot-blooded Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal does not take poor results well, firing team boss Fabien Galthie last season for losing a Champions Cup quarter-final.
Ex-La Rochelle chief Patrice Collazo, signed to replace Galthie, is already in danger of not even competing for that European trophy Wilkinson lifted three times.
Discouraging debuts then for Toulon's new All-Blacks, flanker Liam Messam, a starter, and World Cup-winning winger Julien Savea, who came off the bench for the last 20 minutes.
Savea, curiously, had captain Mathieu Bastareaud as a spectator alongside him for most of the game. Superstar wingers have been in short supply since the moves of record-breaker Chris Ashton to Sale and Semi Radradra to Bordeaux- Begles.
Pau, who just missed out on the top six two years in a row, badly needed a win after a late collapse cost them heavily at Bordeaux-Begles.
They did not need to be exceptional here, a yellow card for Toulon lock Swan Rebbadj reducing second half revival hopes.
They may have been fortunate, though, to survive a video review of a claimed try by Toulon No.8 Charles Ollivon. The images were inconclusive.
Pau, without Steffon Armitage until January with Achilles tendon trouble – his Lyon brother Delon is out for the season after a knee ligament op – lost winger Adrien Plante, early on, too. He was later seen on crutches.
He had been on the field just long enough to see Toulon winger Josua Tuisova touch down between the posts. Promise soon extinguished by an answering try from former Munster flanker Sean Dougall.
Stade Francais captain Sergio Parisse had a pleasant call before the game from the referee who sent him off during an opening win over Perpignan.
It was to inform him that he was rescinding the red card because he had misjudged his role in a collision.
But, by half-time of Stade's match at home to Bordeaux-Begles, Parisse may have been thinking the good news had dried up.
Bordeaux were ahead through an acrobatic try by Aussie winger Blair Connor who somehow contrived to keep his feet out of touch with a daring leap.
Stade, though, made it two wins from two with a 20-8 victory to offer up the prospect of becoming once again a major Top 14 force.
Two tries early in the second half by Fijian winger Waisea Nayacalevu and full-back Kylan Hamdaoui gave them a comfortable lead they never looked like losing. Especially when Bordeaux prop Jefferson Poirot was yellow carded later to leave his team, strong on paper, fatally weakened.
Castres boss Christophe Urios produced a string of swear words when reminded that Top 14 champions tend not to live up to their status in the following season. In fact, with his own champions trailing 16-3 at the break of their home match against Lyon, it looked like he had cursed in vain.
That is, however, before he no doubt added to his colourful vocabulary in the dressing room. The result? Two tries within the first nine second-half minutes, both scored by centre Thomas Combezou.
In between, Scott Spedding kicked a monstrous penalty, a talent that deserted usually reliable Castres kickers who missed six attempts.
Argentine fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta squandered five of those chances. Scrum-half Rory Kockott, who missed another, turned up trumps in the last minute to edge Castres to 19- 16. Tough on Lyon hooker Jeremie Maurouard who had carried the ball over the try-line to help set up a clear interval lead.
“ Savea, curiously, had captain Mathieu Bastareaud as a spectator alongside him for most of the game”
Montpellier team boss Vern Cotter slammed his team's attitude when they were beaten by Castres at home in a re-run of the Top 14 final.
Once again at home, his team beat La Rochelle 36-14 without managing to secure the bonus point that was with within their grasp.
Despite the fact La Rochelle started disastrously with two men yellowcarded in the first half hour. They went down to 13 men when France flanker Kevin Gourdon paid the price for too many team fouls and winger Marc Andreu was punished for illicitly preventing a try from South African prop Jannie du Plessis.
Montpellier held a 19-0 lead at the break through one try from centre Yvan Reilhac, who then made another for winger Vincent Martin. They stayed ahead after two second-half tries to each side, South African lock Paul Willemse and sub hooker Romain Ruffenach for Montpellier, centre Jeremy Sinzelle and Andreu for La Rochelle.
