Top 14: Montpellier set up decider against Toulouse with route-one win over Stade Francais

Just 24 hours after Toulouse had staged an exhibition demolition of Racing 92, Montpellier and Stade Francais reduced rugby to its simplest principles. Montpellier’s pragmatic gameplan was the better of the two.

Montpellier's French flanker Lenni Nouchi, left, celebrates with teammates after winning a scrum. Picture: Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images

Montpellier set up a Top 14 final against defending champions Toulouse next Saturday with a 25-15 route-one shootout win over Stade Francais at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome on a semi-final weekend of two halves.

Just 24 hours after Toulouse had staged an exhibition demolition of Racing 92, Joan Caudullo’s Montpellier and Paul Gustard’s Stade Francais reduced rugby to its first, simplest principles. Montpellier’s pragmatic gameplan was the better of the two.

This isn’t to say that there was nothing to enjoy. The three tries in the opening 16 minutes were highlight-reel adverts for the Top 14. Domingo Miotti’s dart and offload to Tom Banks for Montpellier’s opener was delight enough. But Tawera Kerr-Barlow’s near-instant response, courtesy of an inside pass from Yoann Tanger off a lineout strike move was even better; and Peniasi Dakuwaqa’s full chat grab and dot down from Jeremy Ward’s dot ahead after a stolen lineout was the best of the lot.

Crucially, the Herault side had the upper hand in the scrum, a key weapon for both sides. And Miotti punished Stade with three successful penalties either side of the break.

Joe Marchant, in his last game for Stade Francais, thought he had pulled the Paris side back with a breakaway score after Montpellier overcomplicated things deep in opposition territory. But, after a long consultation between referee and TMO, his touchdown was ruled out.

Minutes later, Montpellier’s Donovan Taofifenua burst clear on halfway but ignored three wide-open team-mates and missed the chance to put the game beyond doubt.

But another scrum penalty handed Leo Coly a chance to put Caudullo’s side 10 points clear. He made no mistake. And Montpellier, 10 points clear, then restricted Stade Francais to their own half for the remaining minutes.

Montpellier's French centre Auguste Cadot, right, attempts to break away. Picture: Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images

A fortnight ago, Racing 92 confirmed their return to the Top 14 play-offs after a single season’s absence with a victory over a far-from full-bore Toulouse at La Defense Arena on the final weekend of the regular season.

Immediately afterwards, manager Patrice Collazo offered up a blueprint for beating the reigning Top 14 champions: “Against Toulouse, you absolutely mustn’t sit back and watch them play,” he said. “You have to attack their attack, prevent them from settling in, and force turnovers.” He didn’t mention the requirement to play their rotated squad. Because, for Friday night’s semi-final in Marseille, Toulouse upped the ante, bringing back a fit-again Antoine Dupont and Paul Grau, Manny Meafou and Jack Willis and Joel Merkler, Romain Ntamack and Santiago Chocobares to the starting XV.

But three defeats, big ones at that, in their last five regular-season outings had prompted questions about Toulouse’s resilience at the business end of another long French domestic season. They’ve scored more tries and more points in a single campaign than any side in French rugby history but, French rugby consensus was, this season’s side are noticeably fallible.

Racing, with their direct, forceful rugby, and their monstrous go-forward pack, had it in them to be Toulousain kryptonite. So the semi-final was sold.

Fans, perhaps, could demand their money back. Racing led for all of four minutes – between Antoine Gibert’s penalty, in the third, and Teddy Thomas’s try in the seventh. By the time the Franciliens troubled the scoreboard again, through Jordan Joseph in the 71st minute, the champions had touched down nine times – the two sides would each score once more in the final 10 – en route to another new record: the 71-17 scoreline is the highest team total in Top 14 play-offs.

Toulouse had blitzed through Racing’s hapless defenders, and gone round them; beat them for power and then pace and then power again with pace; offloaded them off the Velodrome pitch. This was Harlem Globetrotter rugby, and Racing were the stooge opponents.

Willis was astounding. Dupont, the subject of so many questions after his latest injury, was astonishing. Ntamack and Francois Cros, Meafou and Pierre-Louis Barassi were a cut above. The Toulouse list could go on.

Questions over Toulouse? Emphatically answered.