The reigning champion, once again deprived of 11 players selected for the French team for the autumn tests, took advantage of the defeat of Bordeaux-Bègles the day before in La Rochelle (26-3).

Beaten last week in the Arena of Racing 92 (27-18), the Toulousains were heckled half time by Usap at Ernest-Wallon, but they raised the tone in the second act to refuel stitches before cutting for two weeks.

The international third row Selevasio Tolofua, no doubt a little disappointed not to have been called to Marcoussis in the company of his many teammates, remembered the good memory of the coach Fabien Galthié with a very successful performance.

The Toulouse center third line, Selevasio Tolofua, is tackled by players from Perpignan, during the 10th day of the Top 14, November 6, 2021 at the Stade Ernest-Wallon RAYMOND ROIG AFP

Precise against the poles and at the conclusion of a test he himself initiated, the young opening half of Lyon Léo Berdeu, author of 25 points on his own, was also shown to his advantage during of the victory of his team against Castres (30-23).

For the big comeback of Mathieu Bastareaud, ten months after his last Top 14 match, the LOU ended a series of six consecutive losses against the Tarnese bête noire.

Double bonus

The Lyonnais took the opportunity to climb to third place in the company of Montpellier, winner of a stunning match on the ground of the French Stadium (31-27).

The Parisians managed the rare performance of losing with a double bonus, offensive (four tries to one) and defensive, once again the fault of their lack of discipline when they seemed to have the game in hand.

"We do not lose the match against Montpellier, we lose it against us. This is the first time that I have lost with the offensive bonus, that sums up the match well," railed scrum-half Arthur Coville.

The MHR confirmed his good disposition of the moment by chaining a third consecutive success which allows him to pass in front of Racing 92, beaten in Brive (12-10) at the end of the boredom.

The Montpellier winger Vincent Rattez pierces the defense of the Stade Français, during the 10th day of the Top 14, November 6, 2021 at the Stade Jean Bouin in Paris GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT AFP

Left available to the Hauts-de-Seine club by the supervision of the XV of France, Bernard Le Roux, Ibrahim Diallo and Donovan Taofifenua were not enough against Corréziens who stopped the bleeding after four setbacks.

In the second part of the standings, Pau carried out a good operation for the maintenance with a victory against its neighbor of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Biarritz (33-21), poorly rewarded for its good intentions.

The Basques have long believed they could bring something back from this short trip, but they ended up giving in to the brilliance of international opener Antoine Hastoy and third row Jordan Joseph, who came to revive at the foot of the Pyrenees.

The 10th day will end on Sunday evening (9:05 p.m.) with the reunion, in Auvergne, between the new Toulon coach Franck Azéma and his former Clermont club.

© 2021 AFP