Montpellier overthrows Perpignan, Clermont easy winner of Brive, Toulon wins in Lyon

On this special “derby” day, Montpellier came out on top in their duel against neighboring Perpignan (23-22) thanks to a final penalty from their Italian opener Paolo Garbisi in the 77th minute. This is the only time, and the most important, that the MHR has taken control of this meeting. For the Catalans, authors of several beautiful movements, this defeat on the wire makes them lose their precious twelfth place for the maintenance race, overtaken by Pau, victorious over Aviron Bayonnais.

In the South-East, the meeting between Lyon and Toulon, capital for the race for qualification, turned to the advantage of the last cities (23-27). In a tight and lively game until the end, the Toulonnais, who lost their pocket South African winger Cheslin Kolbe to injury in the first half, were more realistic and held off Lyon’s attacks to maintain a narrow gap of four points at the end of regulation time. This victory allows them to move up to sixth place.

On the side of central France, the statutes were respected between Clermont and Brive (38-10). The Auvergnats took the best of the Brive red lantern, weighed down by two red cards (Bituniyata and Van der Merwe) in the last ten minutes. But the men of Christophe Urios had already made the difference, scoring six tries by Falgoux, Lanen, Belleau, author of a double and 18 points, Delguy and Tiberghien. The CAB heads straight for the Pro D2.