Toulouse (AFP)

Deprived of their internationals, La Rochelle and Racing 92 cling to the leader, Toulouse, thanks to their success on Saturday, during the 16th day of the Top 14, in Toulon and Lyon.

Castres, carried against Montpellier by a record Urdapilleta, gets closer to the first half of the table.

.

La Rochelle brings down Mayol

It was to be expected.

The duel between the two best defenses in the championship, La Rochelle and Toulon, gave birth to a long padlocked match.

More enterprising, the Maritimes finally blew the Var lock in the second half to inflict on the RCT its first defeat of the season in its fortress of Mayol (29-11).

Falling narrowly last weekend on the field of Racing 92, Stade Rochelais raised its head thanks to this feat which allowed it to keep up with the pace imposed in the lead by Toulouse.

Handicapped by the lack of a real opener without Louis Carbonel or Baptiste Serin, retained in the French team for the Six Nations Tournament, or Anthony Belleau, injured, Toulon misses the opportunity to distance himself from Lyon and the French Stadium, beaten Earlier in the day.

.

Deja vu for Racing

As against La Rochelle last week, Racing 92 got off to a flying start against Lyon, in the softness of its Arena, with two tries and an 18-0 in the first quarter of an hour.

As against La Rochelle, Racing 92 also lowered its tone then to give hope to its opponent, revived by a hat-trick from international winger Noa Nakaitaci.

But as against La Rochelle, Racing 92, deprived of its internationals, held out to the end to clinch the victory (34-26), after a saving interception from François Trinh-Duc, and stay in contact with the leader Toulouse, now three points ahead.

With this fourth setback in five matches, the LOU, in the hard for several weeks, remains unsuccessful at the door of the Top 6.

.

The Urdapilleta festival

Two tries, an insolent success against the poles, a caviar at the foot ... The Castres opener Benjamin Urdapilleta has shown all the colors in Montpellier (48-17).

With 33 points all by himself, he broke the record for points scored in a Top 14 match, previously co-owned, with 32 points, by Cédric Rosalen (Narbonne) and Benjamin Boyet (Bayonne).

In the wake of the 34-year-old Argentinian, who recently extended his tenure in the Tarn by one season, Castres took with this improved victory a very serious option on maintenance and can even hope for better.

Opposite, the improvement will have been short-lived for Montpellier.

The MHR, 12th, quickly fell back into its faults after ending last weekend, against the French Stadium, a series of seven consecutive defeats.

.

UBB on its way

What if the tide had turned in 2021 for the UBB?

Undisputed leader of the Top 14 when the championship was brought to a halt by the Covid last year, the Gironde club seemed, at first, to have trouble digesting this misfortune.

But he resumed his march forward since the beginning of January, with five wins (and one draw) in six matches against as many direct competitors for the final phase, including the French Stadium swept 44-6 on Saturday in Chaban-Delmas.

This improved success, at the end of a very quickly one-sided meeting, allows Christophe Urios' men to climb to fourth place in the standings.

The Parisians will have to them very quickly correct the shooting away if they want to keep any hope of catching the Top 6. Problem: they will move next week to La Rochelle, intractable on its ground.

The 16th day will continue on Sunday with Bayonne-Brive (19:05).

The match between Agen and Clermont has been postponed to February 27 due to several positive cases for Covid-19 in the ranks of Auvergne.

© 2021 AFP