Paris (AFP)

La Rochelle, the French Stadium and Clermont signed on Saturday during the 7th day of the Top 14 a first success on the outside looking like a breath of fresh air before Toulon relapsed in Mayol in the evening under the eyes of its new southern star - African Cheslin Kolbe.

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The French stadium, La Rochelle and Clermont relieved

A small point of difference on one side, two on the other.

Parisians, Rochelais and Clermontois each signed a narrow victory, respectively in Perpignan (23-22), Brive (8-6) and Montpellier (22-20), but they will be content.

This first success outside their bases allows them to come out of a very complicated period.

"We are not going to boast, but we can say that our season has started," said La Rochelle center Jonathan Danty.

In the standings, the Maritimes are getting closer to six qualifying places for the final phase.

The Stadistes and the ASM move away from the red zone.

However, these short victories did not dispel all doubts.

La Rochelle still let 14 points slip ahead of the poles, its cute sin.

Conversely, Clermont and the French Stadium owe their salvation to kicks.

The yellow opener Camille Lopez, with 17 points in front of the posts, carried his own against thick and thin.

And South African world champion Handre Pollard missed the win penalty for Montpellier.

In Perpignan, it is a nugget of the Parisian training center, Léo Barré, who delivered his team.

A happy ending that ends a great week for the 19-year-old opener, whose contract has been extended for three years in Paris.

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Toulon, while waiting for Kolbe

"See you soon on the field": the star rookie of Toulon Cheslin Kolbe was officially presented to the public of Mayol before the kick-off of the lost match against Racing 92 (27-20).

While waiting to be able to count on his world champion winger, snatched this summer in Toulouse two years before the end of his contract, the RCT points very far from his rank.

Powerless for a long time, despite good offensive intentions, facing a very tight defense in Ile-de-France, the Var club remains stuck in the second part of the standings (11th).

The Hauts-de-Seine club climbed to third place.

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UBB is still scared

A year ago, Bordeaux-Bègles fell to Pau (29-24) despite a 13-point lead.

This time, Christophe Urios' men had 18 more at the break (27-9), thanks to three tries, including a double from the opener Matthieu Jalibert.

French opening half from Bordeaux, François Trinh-Duc, passes the ball during the Top 14 match between Section Paloise and Union Bordeaux-Bègles, at Stade du Hameau in Pau, southwestern France , October 16, 2021. GAIZKA IROZ AFP

The competitor of Romain Ntamack in the Blues, also effective in front of the poles, scored 25 points in total.

This did not prevent the Girondins from trembling again after the great fear suffered in Montpellier last weekend.

The Pau Section dominated the second period (24-10), scoring three tries.

"We were afraid of losing this match, of course," admitted Jefferson Poirot, captain of the UBB.

His team however held the shock to ensure a fourth consecutive success (37-33) and return to three units of the Toulouse leader, opposed to Lyon on Sunday.

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End of Indian summer for Biarritz

The promoted Basque had started his season with two successes in three matches in front of title contenders, Bordeaux-Bègles and Racing 92.

The Argentinian opening half of Castres, Benjamin Urdapilleta, prepares the ball before making a kick to convert a try during the Top 14 match between Castres Olympique and Biarritz Olympique, at the Pierre-Fabre stadium in Castres, in the southwest of France, October 16, 2021. Fred SCHEIBER AFP

Now the only last, Biarritz conceded a fourth loss in a row by losing to Castres (38-20), whose international right pillar Wilfrid Hounkpatin signed a new double.

The trips are definitely not successful at the BO.

In three trips, he did not take a single point in the standings and conceded 130 points including the setbacks in Perpignan (33-20, 2nd day) and La Rochelle (59-17, 4th day), a little more 43 points per game on average.

© 2021 AFP