. Racing 92 crunches Bayonne
Seven tries, the offensive bonus point. Racing 92, with an excellent Gaël Fickou (two tries) and Finn Russell (twenty points), returned to the top six by taking only a bite out of Bayonne (55-14).
The Ciel et Blanc took nearly an hour to get going but, once launched, Laurent Travers' men seemed unstoppable, scoring five tries in the last twenty minutes.
Racing, always present in the final phase since its return to the elite in 2009, is still in the race.
. Lyon play with fire
Facing a Perpignan team that played its skin in the Top 14, the Lou played with fire (41-31). Xavier Garbajosa's men only regained the lead five minutes from the end, thanks to a try from Baptiste Couilloud.
Lyon won a crucial victory and now find themselves in fifth place.
Lyon scrum-half Baptiste Couilloud has just scored a try against Perpignan, on May 6, 2023 at the Gerland stadium in Lyon © OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
For Usap, it is a double blow since Pau atomized Castres (40-3) and is now eight points ahead of the Catalans, thirteenth and virtual barragists.
. Clermont shows teeth
ASM is not dead. The pre-match was disrupted by the statements of the second international line Sébastien Vahaamahina, forced to end his career after a new concussion and who charged the Auvergne club.
But the Jaunards raised their heads in front of Stade Français (32-16) to climb to 9th place and join the battle for the Champions Cup. But Christophe Urios' men, clumsy and approximate, had to wait until the end of the match to get rid of the Parisians, still third.
Clermont prop Giorgi Beria (r) scores a try against Stade Français on May 6, 2023 in Clermont-Ferrand © JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP
In the other meetings of the day, Brive created the feat by winning at the defending champion Montpellier (27-26) which allows the Coujoux to dream of an improbable maintenance.
The 24th day of the Top 14 continues on Sunday with a high-altitude clash between Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles.
© 2023 AFP