Match Day 4 Overview

[M Two One]

Coming into match day 4 there are a few good ones to catch. On Friday, the battle for survival will already take place to see if Lyon has what it takes to stick with the big boys when they face a troubled Brive side. Brive has floated around at the bottom of the table for a few seasons now and it will be interesting to see if they can manage a win against the newly promoted side.

Castres continue to play well at home despite losing their captain to Toulon over the summer and will take on upstarts Agen. Montpellier haven't been playing well without their stars and they need a win against Perpignan, but will have to do it away from home. This one could get ugly. Toulouse and Biarritz will face off later that evening. Both clubs are depleted of significant talent and will be interesting to see if Jean-Baptiste Élissalde will feature after being forced out of retirement.

Finally, the battle for first early on will take place on Saturday between Clermont and Racing Métro.

 

[M Two One]

I think I'll be switching back and forth between at least four matches today. What match(es) will the rest of you be watching?

 

[M Two One]

Early goings, Castres are killing Agen 22 - 0 and the crowd is going nuts.

This is my first chance to see Castres play this season and I'm really impressed so far.

 

[M Two One]

Toulouse lead Biarritz 3 - 0 nearing half time.

Perpignan just scored an amazing try. There is so much creativity in these matches today.

 

[M Two One]

Brive and Lyon are playing a great match right now. Lyon lead 15 - 12 with ten minutes left to play and Brive are about to kick a penalty to tie it ... and it is no good!

 

[M Two One]

Lyon have won their first match of the season against Brive in an exciting match.

My friend's cousin Benjamin Petri scored a try for Agen! It was too little too late though as Castres remain undefeated at home.

 

[M Two One]

Toulouse are destroying Biarritz in this second half.

 

[M Two One]

I know that the world cup is a priority for everyone, but no discussion during the Top 14 matches? Come on people.

UBB couldn't manage a second home victory against Toulon despite scoring the only try of the match. Toulon kicked their way to victory in dominant fashion. Lyon finally picked up their first (and deserving) victory of the season against Brive by opening up the relegation battle early on.

Castres dominated Agen through the majority of the first half. Agen looked sluggish, but eventually picked it up and managed some nice passage of play late in the match. Stade Français and Bayonne put on a clinic through most of the first half with five tries scored between them. The Parisians' kicking game helped them ease to a fairly marginal victory.

Perpignan and Montpellier was a tight match, though it wasn't a very exciting one to watch. Montpellier could have scored a few times, but they just didn't have the ability to finish anything. Finally, Biarritz had their asses handed to them by Toulouse. The Basque club held their own quite well through the first half against Toulouse before falling apart. As feared, BO are suffering severely by the loss of key players during the RWC.

Racing Métro and Clermont will face off tomorrow in Colombes, which should be a great clash.

Here are the final scores for today's matches.

(1) 16 - 27 (0)

Fabien Rofes 74' c

(0) 12 - 15 (2)

Regis Lespinas 15' m, 17' c

(4) 30 - 11 (1)

Romain Cabannes 12' c, Matemini Masoe 27' c, Marc Andreu 30' m, Pierre Gilles Lakafia 78' m - Benjamin Petre 72' m

(3) 33 - 18 (2)

Francis Fainifo 2' c, Pierre Rabadan 12' c, Paul Warwick 23' c - Marvin O'Connor 7' c, Garth Peter Ziegler 31' m

(1) 19 - 12 (0)

Adrien Plante 63' c

(3) 24 - 0 (0)

Yannick Nyanga 52' c, Timoci Matanavou 57' c, Luke McAlister 61' c​