Top 14 Drilldown: 'I am not convinced Mr Poite will be named this season’s leading referee'

Perpigan fume over ref's '672 errors', Saint-Andre's Montpellier resurgence and Gourdon's sad La Rochelle farewell
Top 14 Drilldown: 'I am not convinced Mr Poite will be named this season’s leading referee'

DELIGHT: Castres's players react at the end of their win at Perpignan.

Tue, 28 Dec, 2021 - 12:03
James Harrington, Toulouse

JUST three of the Top 14’s Christmas matches went ahead as scheduled, with Toulouse-Stade Francais, Brive-Clermont, Toulon-Bordeaux and Racing 92-Pau all falling to outbreaks of Covid-19.

Before French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the reimposition of crowd limits for at least three weeks from January 3 and a stricter vaccine pass requirement for anyone playing or watching rugby from January 15, LNR president Rene Bouscatel had struck a positive note on the health situation compared to last year - reminding Midi Olympique that 98 percent of players and staff at France’s Top 14 clubs have received at least two doses of vaccine.

But the situation is changing rapidly across the country. At a purely top-flight professional rugby level, French pay-TV broadcaster Canal+ is already working to mitigate disruption to the New Year’s weekend fixture list.

Currently, two matches - Stade Francais-Perpignan and Clermont-Toulouse are scheduled for the evening of January 1, with the remaining five games filling Canal’s afternoon and evening schedules on January 2. Changes to the fixture lists - including possible postponements - are expected over the coming days.

The three results of the disrupted 13th round of the Top 14 are:

 

And an uneven table, with six sides having played one more game than the other eight, looks like this:

 

Dates for the rearranged matches have yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, Castres marked the turning point of their season - and fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta’s 150th match for the club - with a full-blooded, penalty-ridden 20-19 victory on the road at Perpignan and moved, provisionally, into fifth place in the Top 14.

 

It was a game won and lost by force of will, Castres’ captain Gaetan Barlot admitted shortly after playing a full 80 at hooker. “Technically, there are many things to review, tactically too,” he said, “in particular, several lost lineouts and stupid penalties. There were a lot of little technical errors that kept Perpignan in the game and made it difficult for us.” 

Hosts’ head coach Patrick Arlettaz, meanwhile, was far from impressed with referee Romain Poite after watching his side come off second best at home for the third time this season.

FURY: Romain Poite's performance did not impress Perpignan head coach Patrick Arlettaz.
FURY: Romain Poite's performance did not impress Perpignan head coach Patrick Arlettaz.

With seven of their 13 home games already gone in the first half of the campaign, there’s no doubt the pressure is mounting on the Catalans, who only avoided slipping to the foot of the table because Biarritz messed up at home to Montpellier.

The match was lost, Arlettaz exaggeratedly insisted, ‘on the last play, with 672 errors and one final penalty that was not whistled’.

“I am not convinced Mr Poite will be named this season’s leading referee,” he said. “It was difficult to swallow. It's a shame to lose for my players because it was not fair. We deserved something else. There were mistakes we could have avoided but I am proud of the commitment that the players have shown.” 

Six in a row Montpellier could barely buy a win in the first half of last season. They headed into New Year 2020/21 in 13th place, with just three wins to their name, and with then-head coach Xavier Garbajosa preparing for what would be his final match in charge.

Now, as Philippe Saint-Andre prepares to mark a year as interim/acting head coach, they head into New Year 2021/22, third in the league, level on points with Toulouse - though they have played one more game - and on a six-match domestic winning streak.

 

Saint-Andre selected a travelling matchday squad intended to pound hosts Biarritz up front. The second row alone, Paul Willemse and Bastien Chalureau, made up 250kg of the pack weight - and he included powerhouse Nico Janse van Rensburg in the backrow just to make sure.

 

It worked, too - despite Chalureau getting himself sent off permanently for a second yellow card offence - a needless high tackle shortly after the hour mark - two minutes after serving out his 10-minute sin-bin for the first one, and despite an unusually penalty-strewn performance. Referee-turned-defence coach Alexandre Ruiz will have plenty to say at the match debrief this week.

The visitors were 13-12 ahead at the time. Despite being a player down, they scored two tries in the final 18 minutes to pick up a bonus point-win on the road.

Biarritz coach Shaun Sowerby was understandably disappointed but admitted the basement side lacked realism and quality in the red zone: “We pushed in the second half, we did everything except to score. Losing this way is a disappointment.

“In the second half, players were asked to shift their massive pack about the park. We got there, without scoring any tries. We got nothing for our efforts. Everyone gave what they could. But we lacked a bit of quality and realism."

Even the most die-hard Galway Sportsground loyalist might have winced at the conditions at Marcel Deflandre on Monday night for the match between La Rochelle and Lyon.

 

A bittersweet moment preceded kick off, as Kevin Gourdon spoke to the La Rochelle crowd one last time after a heart condition diagnosis just before Christmas ended his career with immediate effect.

But La Rochelle - who haven’t played since mid-December - quickly put any emotion over the sudden loss of one of their own to one side as they managed their opponents, the conditions and expectations to win 25-3 and bag a handy bonus point.

 

Any faint ambition injury-hit Lyon may have harboured of climbing up the table as they headed west for the match, were swiftly dashed as they were overpowered and out-thought from first whistle to last, prompting praise from head coach Ronan O’Gara.

 

“The conditions were very difficult, but the forwards did the job,” he said. “They put on a really great performance, all of them were very impressive, but that's no surprise to me. I knew they could do it.

“It was a little frustrating not to have secured the bonus earlier, but the forwards were very precise to win this game. The next three weeks will be decisive for the standings at the end of the season. Now I am waiting for an away performance to back up these good performances at home.” Castres, who host La Rochelle next weekend, have been warned. 

Lyon, meanwhile, may need to listen to their social media manager… 

 

As Fabien Galthie considers his options ahead of the Six Nations Gregory Alldritt played his best game of the season in a Rochelais storm; Brice Dulin firmly reopened the French fullback debate; while Uini Atonio reiterated his justifiable claim as France’s best option at tighthead, destroying Lyon loosehead Sebastien Taofifenua in the scrum - and made an impression with ball in hand.

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