impregnable at home, Bayonne offers Toulouse
Aviron, author of a fiery start (17-0, 15), never trembled for victory against the red and black reserves, far too tender and undisciplined initially to compete, but who ended up into a cannonball to snatch the defensive bonus.
With this fifth success, already as much as its neighbor Biarritz relegated at the end of last season, the Basques follow in the footsteps of five other teams, tied for 4th place in ambush of the podium.
For its part, the Stade suffered its second setback of the season, once again in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (defeat in Pau mid-September) which did not call into question its good start to the championship, especially since its pursuers, the Stade Français and La Rochelle also bit the dust in this first doubling of the season.
The Bayonnais had announced the color, they had to set the pace and it didn’t take long. From the start, their pressure caused the Toulouse team to retreat, quickly penalized by a defeat (4th) then a try from the back Gaëtan Germain (8th).
A thrilling finale
The pace imposed by Camille Lopez and his teammates did not let up and Facundo Bosch, following a penal touch, also ended up behind the line.
If on a few sequences, Ugo Mola’s men were able to clear and open their points counter – penalty from Edgar Retière (20th) – the end of the first act remained Bayonne with a minimal gain (23-3) thanks to two new penalties ordered by the New Zealand and French-speaking referee, Ben O’Keeffe, and successful by Germain.
The move to the locker room has obviously done the teammates of evening captain Sofiane Guitoune, determined and finally moving forward, a lot of good. Lucas Tauzin, in the corner (50th), rewarded a highlight of his team who missed two big chances by losing control of the ball on two penalized at 5 meters played by hand.
Advantage in management against the opposing bottle class, reinforced by international pillar Cyril Baille, who had not yet played this season following his adductor operation, Bayonne still suffered at the end.
Grégory Patat’s men conceded a try from Dimitri Delibes (75th) then another seven minutes after the siren signed Juan Mallía following several scrums which had put their hosts overheated, and that the Argentine rear, converted scorer, transformed to recover the defensive bonus.