Teddy Thomas off form again as Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle beaten by Bayonne

The winger was at fault again.

ERROR: Teddy Thomas was replaced after his mistake. 

Teddy Thomas suffered a second defensive nightmare in as many weeks as Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle slipped to a 29-13 defeat at Bayonne’s sold-out Stade Jean Dauger.

His in-goal fumble resulted in a try for Racing 92’s Francis Saili last week. This time, the winger’s frailties on the back foot were again laid bare, as he hesitated one awkward bounce too many before trying to gather a clever kick from Camille Lopez.

The ball jagged sideways just enough and, with Thomas flat-footed, Guillaume Martocq scored in the corner.

Last week, Thomas had a chance to redeem himself and took it with a try as La Rochelle fought back to win at Marcel Deflandre. This week, he wasn’t given the option - he was replaced shortly afterwards.

The Rochelais had fought their way into an early lead, when Yoann Tanga was barged over the tryline by his pack. But Bayonne replied immediately through the remarkable Sireli Maqala. Gaetan Germain scored their second two minutes before Thomas’s costly mistake.

Promoted ProD2 champions Bayonne have now beaten Racing 92, Bordeaux and La Rochelle at home this season. It’s quickly become a venue visiting sides fear to tread.

Earlier, Christian Wade’s 66th minute try on his Top 14 debut for Racing 92 kickstarted a match against Pau that had, until then, struggled to get going. The score was an all-kicked 12-6 before Wade was put clear by a smart Finn Russell kick. Gael Fickou put the game out of reach eight minutes later, before young Irish winger Eoghan Barrett gave Pau an outside shot at a losing bonus with a try four minutes from time. It ended 26-13.

In a rerun of last season’s final, Castres gained some measure of revenge over champions Montpellier, winning 26-13 at Stade Pierre Fabre, to extend their unbeaten Top 14 run at home. In truth, the margin of victory should have been much higher, as they threw aside some of the uncertainty of recent weeks.

Stade Francais ran in eight tries in a comprehensive 52-3 win over Perpignan at Stade Jean Bouin. The visitors were reduced to 14 after just 20 minutes when Lucas Velarte was sent off for a dangerous tackle, when the score was already 21-3.

Cheslin Kolbe needed just two minutes to remind Toulon fans of his try-scoring talent against Brive at Stade Felix Mayol. His score opened the floodgates. Within 10 minutes, they had three tries, and ran in another four in the second half to win 47-0.

Thomas Ramos scored twice, and Antoine Dupont, Melvyn Jaminet and Alexandre Roumat opened their season’s try counts as Toulouse beat Clermont 46-10 in the final game of Saturday night to make it five wins from six and open up a six-point gap on Toulon and La Rochelle at the top of the table.

On Sunday, Lyon - a side capable of combining fantastic and frustrating rugby in the same 10-minute period - welcome Bordeaux to Stade Gerland for the final match of the Top 14’s sixth weekend.