Top 14: Lyon go top after La Rochelle clash called off

The Top 14 match between Toulon and Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle at Stade Felix Mayol on Sunday night was called off by referee Jeremy Rozier for safety reasons shortly after its scheduled kick-off time as a heavy autumn storm flooded the ground.

His decision, after he had already delayed kick-off, came as no real surprise, as the region was under orange weather alert – the second highest alert level in France – for violent storms that are relatively common in southern France at this time of year. But it does raise a number of questions as to why it was left so long.

Earlier, local authorities had twice given the Top 14 game the green light, despite the forecast and even though the Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain at the Orange Velodrome, about 60km to the west, had been postponed to Monday evening because of the conditions.

With Toulon not playing this weekend, Lyon are top of the table with a perfect three-match winning record in the early weeks of the campaign. But they got a scare at home against Stade Francais on Saturday afternoon, holding off a late fightback from the visitors to win 42-37.

Later that evening, Montpellier ran in five tries to beat a strangely out-of-sorts Toulouse 44-14.

After two losing bonuses in their opening two matches, Castres – who will celebrate their 120th anniversary in 2026 – picked up their first win of the season, running in seven tries to beat Bayonne 48-17 at Stade Pierre Fabre.

Clermont, meanwhile, marked their centenary with a 50-27 win over Pau at Stade Marcel Michelin, pulling away from 22-20 in the 45th minute.

Bordeaux registered 11 of the total 55 tries scored in Saturday’s six Top 14 matches, as they brutally reminded promoted Montauban of the realities of life in the French domestic men’s top flight, winning 71-24. The ProD2 champions are one of two sides yet to pick up a league point this season.

The other is Perpignan, who lost 15-28 at home to Racing 92, whose difficult renaissance under Patrice Collazo is continuing, with a second win in as many matches and no galactico fly-half.