Top 14: Lowly Montpellier shut out 'sterile' La Rochelle in deluge

La Rochelle's South African wing Dillyn Leyds (C) is tackled during the French Top14 match (Photo by PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images)

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle failed to trouble the scoreboard in diluvian conditions at Top 14 strugglers Montpellier, as they slipped to a second defeat in three matches.

The Rochelais have scored just seven points in their last two games on the road, compounding their 37-7 loss against Bayonne in northern Spain a fortnight ago with a 16-0 loss at the GGL Stadium on Saturday.

Under a deluge that made the ball slippery and footing uncertain – the metaphorical French term is ‘dantesque’ – La Rochelle could not make anything of extended periods deep in opposition territory, as Montpellier, captained for the first time by summer arrival Billy Vunipola, put their bodies on the line time after time, after forgotten France centre Arthur Vincent scored the game’s only try in the 13th minute.

“Our breakdown was poor, Montpellier defended very well. We spent plenty of time in Montpellier's scoring zone, but we were sterile,” defence coach Romain Carmignani admitted afterwards. “In these conditions, you need a very specific strategy. We didn't adapt.”

 “This defeat hurts,” backrow Paul Boudehent added. “We wanted to make up for the poor performance at Bayonne – we wanted to take home four points.” 

He drew the inevitable conclusion. “They were better than us. We’re capable of playing very good games at home, but we need to be able to do the same away.”

Conditions weren’t much better over on the Atlantic coast, but it didn’t stop Bordeaux’s Matthieu Jalibert reminding Fabien Galthie of his international credentials as he guided his side to a 19-6 bonus-point win over Pau at Stade Chaban Delmas. He made international team-mate Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s try, was a crucial part of France halfback partner Maxime Lucu’s touchdown, kicked smartly and accurately, and troubled Pau’s defence all afternoon.

Winger Nathanael Hulleu scored for Castres inside 17 seconds against his former side Vannes on their first visit to Stade de la Rabine.

But manager Jeremy Davidson will wonder what happened then, as the visitors gave up an 18-7 lead after 34 minutes to go in at the break 21-18 down – and then found themselves 34-21 behind shortly after the hour. The promoted Bretons then held off a late fightback to claim their second win of the season 34-28.

Owen Farrell scored his first Top 14 try and picked up his second Top 14 yellow card as Stuart Lancaster’s Racing 92 marked their belated return to La Defense Arena, after three ‘home’ matches an hour away in Creteil, with an unconvincing 30-23 win over Perpignan. The home side led 24-3 as the clock ticked past the half-hour.

A total 11 players scored as Lyon and Bayonne scored six tries apiece in a thriller at Stade Gerland, where the home side lost for the first time in almost a year. The visitors from the Basque Country, who rested regular first-teamers Sireli Maqala, Tevita Tatafu, Facundo Bosch and Matteo Carreras, raced into a 27-7 lead in the first half, and scored another 22 points in the second – but conceded 33 to win 38-49.

After Vannes’ victory, Stade Francais needed a win of their own to avoid spending the next week at the bottom of the table. They, as social media might have it, understood the assignment, picking up a try-scoring bonus en-route to beating Clermont 36-6 at Stade Jean Bouin.

On Sunday, a decade and a day after he made his senior pro debut for Castres against Leinster in the Champions Cup, Antoine Dupont captains an internationals-stacked Toulouse team for the weekend’s big game, against Toulon at a sold-out Stadium Toulouse.

Dan Biggar returns to the bench for the visitors, but Pierre Mignoni has decided to leave a number of key players at home – but the recalled Gabin Villiere and Olympic gold medallist Rayan Rebbadj start on opposite wings.