Strettle’s hat-trick invainfor Clermont
“It was only an eleventhhour penalty from scrumhalf Morgan Parra that rescued a bonus point for Clermont”
English winger David Strettle will long remember the day Bernard Laporte won a landslide victory to become the new president of the French Rugby Federation.
Not really, it must be said, as a player plying his trade in a country that now expects a sporting revolution with Laporte as its triumphant figurehead.
No, Strettle will recall the occasion as coinciding with a hat-trick of his tries, bringing his total in the colours of Clermont to seven this season.
That’s normally a winning contribution for a team that still lead the Top 14 before undertaking a double European confrontation with Ulster over the next fortnight.
Not this time, however. For Strettle left the field with second-half substitute Nick Abendanon, his compatriot, beaten 40-35 by Pau.
In fact, it was only an eleventhhour penalty from scrum-half Morgan Parra that rescued a bonus point for a Clermont side depleted by injury.
Pau scored five tries with major contributions from their Kiwi stars Colin Slade and Conrad Smith with Steffon Armitage always in the thick of the battle.
They hope this nine-try thriller will prove to be the match that launches take-off somewhat late in a season that had plunged far below the expectations raised by expensive recruitment.
Only once did they fall narrowly behind to Strettle’s second try on the half-hour after an interception and trademark sprint.
Otherwise, they maintained a lead with the five tries coming at regular intervals from Fijian winger Watisoni Votu, Slade and Smith, hooker Thomas Bianchin and Fijian centre Jale Vatubua.
Strettle’s hat-trick, confirming the star status he has achieved in French rugby, was accompanied by another from Aussie lock Sitaleki Timani.
Clermont are among high-profile victims of relegation-fighting Bayonne this season – others are Toulon and Toulouse – but Bayonne’s chances of a performance at Stade Francais ended with a bout of fisticuffs.
Italian hooker Gregory Argonese threw punches during an early scrap with French international prop Rabah Slimani that provoked a general free-for-all.
Slimani escaped with a yellow, but a red for Argonese condemned Bayonne to an overwhelming 51-5 defeat with six of the eight tries conceded before the hour.
Aussie scrum-half Will Genia, whom Stade had denied a call-up by his country, started the deluge in just three minutes. Full-back Hugo Bonneval, en route to Toulon next season, added a second and South African back-rower Jono Ross a third before the break.
One-way traffic allowed further tries from Slimani, Fiji backs Waisea, Joiaia Raisuqe and Jeremy Sinzelle and centre Sylvain Nicolas.
Montpellier boss Jake White was taken ill on the eve of his team’s visit to Grenoble and so missed a thumping 51-37 win.
Truth is the game for long periods was much tighter even though that will do little to calm relegation nerves in Grenoble, who opened the scoring with a try by Irish centre Chris Farrell after just four minutes.
There seemed litle chance of Montpellier securing a bonus point when Fijian winger Sisa Waqa brought Grenoble to within just two point towards the close.
Especially as Jense van Rensburg, their South African lock, saw his match come to a close with a yellow card towards the end.
Incredibly, Montpellier, though depleted, staged a grandstand finish to score two tries in the dying minutes through Fijian winger Timoci Nagusa and substitute Aussie full-back Jesse Mogg.
That was Nagusa’s 61st try for Montpellier – he had scored another not long before – and may explain why they had patiently awaited his long-overdue return from Fiji to play for them.
Lyon boss Pierre Mignoni said before his hosting of Castres that he expected his opponents to finish in the top six this season.
They did nothing to question his judgement with a 23-19 victory during which the referee had to caution both captains against volatile tempers.
Castres deserved their narrow success thanks to tries from flanker Antoine Jelonch and scrum-half Rory Kockott with Lyon centre Theo Belan winning a defensive bonus point later with his first try for the club.
The presidential success of Laporte will prompt smiling faces at Toulon, whose boss Mourad Boudjellal backed his quest for power.
It comes, too, after Boudjellal won an appeal against a League 100,000-euro fine for allegedly breaching the salary cap.
One things is for sure, the futures of former president Pierre Camou and his faithful supporter Serge Blanco seem as solidly grounded as the plans for a £600m new stadium for France which Laporte has promised to scrap.
The closest collaborator on Laporte’s elected team is Serge Simon, a doctor and former prop who finished his playing career at Gloucester.