Heineken Cup: Toulouse edge Bath 18-16 in thriller
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Toulouse produced a come from behind last gasp victory to defeat Bath 18-16 after a David Skrela penalty at the Stade Municipal. Toulouse were far from their usual expansive self being out-enthused by Bath and also taking a back seat to the expansive play of Bath.
Bath had their chances to secure victory, even scoring two tries to nil but were unable to secure victory mostly due to the wayward kicking of Buth James.
In other matches Leinster scored a 27-16 win over Edinburgh at their hoodoo ground Murrayfield to secure full points in the first round of the Heineken Cup. Leinster scored four tries to one with tries going to Rocky Elsom, Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan and Felipe Contemponi.
Results from the first round of the Heineken Cup;
Sale 32 Clermont 15
Munster 19 Montauban 17
Wasps 25 Castres 11
Perpignan 29 Treviso 16
Leicester 12 Ospreys 6
Stade Francais 26 Ulster 10
Harlequins 29 Scarlets 22
Newport-Gwent 32 Glasgow 22
Cardiff Blues 56 Calvisano 20
Gloucester 22 Biarritz 10
Kelleher bags Top 14 Award
Byron Kelleher, 31, the former New Zealand All Blacks international who played in 57 internationals over 9 years won the player of the year award in the French Top 14 Rugby competition.
Kelleher who plays for the reigning champions Toulouse capped off a marvelous season with the win the recognised the skills and class he provided Toulouse last year and continues to provide this year.
French Rugby Top 14: Round 2 Results
Round 2 of French Rugby Top 14 compeition saw some spirited matches and some near major upsets on a day when France was sweltering.
Little fancied Mont-de-Marsan came within a whiskers length of defeating the highly fancied Paris side Stade Francais. Stade Francais were lucky to get away with the win at home as the minnows of the Top 14 game them a real fright.
Toulon and Brive played a dour and uninspiring 3-3 draw. Neither side delivered in the warm conditions and both kickers had chances to win but neither could claim victory. Clermont and Toulouse both bounced back to win but Toulouse did it tough against another minnow in Dax. Clermont were showing signs of returning to their form of last year with a convincing 43-20 win over Montpellier.
The full results from Round 2 are below;
Toulon 3 Brive 3
Toulouse 32 Dax 25
Bayonne 22 Montauban 20
Stade Francais 27 Mont-de-Marsan 22
Clermont 43 Montpellier 20
Biarritz 32 Castres 17
Bourgoin 16 Perpignan 22
French Top 14 Round One Wrap-up
The French Rugby Top 14 competition kicked off in France yesterday and several surprise results had the season off to an interesting start. The champions Toulouse were stunned in their loss to Montpellier 16-11 and Toulon the new boys to the competition came from behind in the second half by winning 22-16 against Clermont.
Montpellier who could be a surprise packet after their win against the highly fancied Toulouse side. Toulouse will be analysing this missed chances, particularly focusing on the vital 10 minutes that Byron Kelleher spent in the bin.
Toulon were dead and buried at half-time but managed to win 22-16 after trailing 13-0. Sonny Bill Williams got Toulon back into the clash right after half-time and Toulon were able to power away with a first up victory after being promoted to the French Top 14. In other match results Stade Francais had a convincing win under new coach Ewen McKenzie. Stade Francais top the ladder after Round 1.
Results
Perpignan 34 Brive 18
Castres 26 Bayonne 27
Dax 9 Stade Français 31
Montpellier 16 Toulouse 11
Montauban 37 Mont-de-Marsan 19
Biarritz 29 Bourgoin 22
Toulon 22 Clermont 16
French Top 14 to Kick-Off on 25th August
The French Top 14 Rugby competition kicks off today in France with all fourteen sides facing off in a what looks to be a ripper start to the competition.
Many questions will be asked in the early weeks of the competition with the new ELVs in place how will sides adapt and will all the big name foreign signing’s deliver for their respective teams?
France have gone through a massive increase in foreign players and with this increase will come a greater attention and focus on the sides in action from the foreign media.
So will Toulouse reclaim the trophy? Has Toulon bought the trophy? We will include a wrap-up tomorrow of the results and give you all a brief update on how week one went.
Who do you think will win the Top 14?
The first week fixtures are;
Perpignan vs Brive
Castres vs Bayonne
Dax vs Stade Francais
Montpellier vs Toulouse
Montauban vs Mont de Marsan
Biarritz vs Bourgoin
Toulon vs Clermont
Toulouse triumph over Clermont
Toulouse triumphed over Clermont 26-20 in the French Rugby Championship final on the weekend. The victory was the seventeenth time Toulouse have won the championship and will go part way towards erasing the disappoint of their recent Heineken Cup Final loss.
Planet Rugby have an excellent article going into great detail on the match, click here to read the match report.