One-time US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld notoriously told journalists at a news briefing in February 2002: “There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”
That’s the Top 14 right now, with seven rounds of the regular season, punctuated by Champions and Challenge Cup knockout rounds, remaining. We know a fair bit. There’s a lot we can extrapolate. But, with four points separating third from eighth; and 10th being as close to the play-offs as they are to relegation danger, there’s also a whole lot we have the square root of no idea about.
Welcome to Rumsfeld time.
Results
The weekend started with a rout, as Toulon – an unhappy ship, right now – put Montpellier to the sword at Stade Mayol.
But there followed a series of very close matches, as Perpignan and Racing 92 bagged crucial away wins, Clermont returned to winning ways in an end-to-end eight-try match, while Bayonne rode their luck to survive a La Rochelle fightback, and Bordeaux and Toulouse played out one of the matches of the season.
Here’s the full list of results.
Match of the weekend
Bordeaux v Toulouse. No contest, despite a weekend in which the sides in five of the weekend’s seven matches were separated by less than an unconverted try.
The final game of the 19th round had plenty to live up to, after Castres-Racing, Oyonnax-Perpignan, and Clermont-Pau had set the tension bar high. But Bordeaux-Toulouse, in front of more than 42,000 fans at the Matmut Atlantique, turned things all the way up to 14.
Nine tries; Bordeaux racing into a 17-0 and then a 24-7 lead; a debate over whether a deliberate knock-on 40m out should result in a penalty try; Toulouse fighting back to take charge at 28-24 with 15 minutes left; Bordeaux going ahead again in the 70th minute with a score in the corner that flirted dangerously with the touchline; then resisting repeated waves of Toulouse pressure to win 31-28. What’s not to like?
Individual performance
George Moala. Clermont were in a dark place following a run of three defeats and a draw heading into this weekend’s match against Pau at Stade Marcel Michelin. Senior players and staff had got together to find a way out of their current problems – and it seems to have worked.
And Moala led the way, beating no fewer than 18 defenders in a superb individual performance, as Clermont recovered from a sluggish start to win 31-28.
Flop of the weekend
Look no further than Saturday’s opening match.
No one’s ever going to pretend winning at Stade Mayol is easy. But Montpellier – on a run of four wins in a row, and seven in nine since the turn of the year – would have been in confident mood as they headed west along the Mediterranean coast to Toulon, where a mutinous mood among fans has reached febrile levels in recent weeks.
Cue a 54-7 eight-tries-to-one hiding, in which Montpellier didn’t even trouble the scoreboard until an hour was on the clock – when Toulon were 33 points to the good.
Worse still for the 2022 Top 14 champions, results elsewhere, notably Perpignan’s 15-14 win at bottom-of-the-table Oyonnax, means that Montpellier drop to 13th, the relegation play-off place, with the visit of Stade Francais lined up next, followed by matches against Pau, Perpignan, Castres, Toulouse, Lyon and Clermont.
Coaching call
Like it, loathe it, be ambivalent towards it, rugby is a 23-a-side game. And Stade Francais’ replacements made all the difference when they came on in the second half of what had been a thoroughly dour arm wrestle of a match against Lyon at Stade Jean Bouin.
Lyon led 6-0 when Karim Ghezal and Laurent Labit sent on the first batch of three subs 10 minutes into the second half. The score was 6-5 when they sent on three more replacements on the hour. And it finished 22-13.
“They brought a lot of energy – they did a big job,” Ghezal said afterwards.
Lyon lock Felix Lambey, too, recognised their impact. “Their bench was really dominant, especially in the scrum,” he said. “That’s what allowed them to get the better of us”.
Talking point
TMOs. As it was in the English Premiership, so it was in the Top 14 this weekend. In the first-half of Bordeaux-Toulouse, TMO Philippe Bonhoure comprehensively dismissed referee Adrien Marbot’s question as to whether a deliberate knock-on from Toulouse’s Paul Costes on the 40m line, preventing Damian Penaud from intercepting an Antoine Dupont pass, also merited a penalty try – “it’s 40 metres from the line. Penalty, yellow card, is fine,” he said.
For reference, the penalty try law reads: “A penalty try is awarded between the goal posts if foul play by the opposing team prevents a probable try from being scored, or scored in a more advantageous position. A player guilty of this must be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off. No conversion is attempted.”
Penaud would have had a lot of ground to cover. But he’s pretty rapid, and plenty of Toulouse players were clearly visible in the wide shot. There may be a question of how likely it was he could have hung on to the ball…
Then, in the 70th minute, Pierre Bochaton scored what turned out to be the match-winning try in the corner, having flirted with the touchline under an attempted tackle from Ahki.
Referee Marbot trusted the decision of his assistant – who was close to the action – that the try was good. There would have been a discussion with the TMO, who clearly saw nothing to bring to the on-field referee’s attention.
Toulouse fans, however, may take exception to that…
Quote of the week
“I like it when people tell me he’s the best 9 – but he’s not bad at 10, either.”
Toulouse coach Ugo Mola after Antoine Dupont returned to club action following his sevens adventures in Vancouver and Los Angeles, coming on as a sub after just five minutes to play at fly-half
Table
So, 19 rounds down, seven to go. And this is how the Top 14 table looks.
Oyonnax have now gone eight games without a win in the Top 14 since the start of the year – they’re caught in the gravitational pull of relegation, and are surely in miracle territory if they are to escape. Saturday’s loss to Perpignan at home, their fifth defeat on their own turf in nine matches, leaves them 11 points adrift at the bottom of the table. And they’re at La Rochelle next weekend, while their three nearest rivals are all at home.
After La Rochelle, their run-in features matches at home against Racing 92, Toulon and Bayonne, and trips to Castres, Pau and Bordeaux.
My name is James Harrington. I’m a freelance sports journalist, writing mostly about French club and international rugby. If, after reading this, you feel the urge to commission me for match previews, reviews, articles, news, features, interviews, live blogs, feel free to contact me
And, please read my weekly French rugby column in The Rugby Paper every Sunday. And I also round-up all the weekend’s Top 14 action on the Irish Examiner website.
James Harrington: Freelance sports journalist 