Paris (France) (AFP) – The Toulouse still leaders after their forceps victory in Castres (8-7), in front of a Pau Section which scared itself at the promoted Vannetais (43-40): the 5th day of the Top 14 made a big difference on Saturday, with 15 points scored in Tarn and 83 in Brittany.

Published on: 04/10/2026 - 00:02

Montpellier will close this weekend by welcoming Toulon on Sunday evening on the lawn of the “football” neighbors at La Mosson.

. The Toulouse kids in the race

With several rookies, including the untenable flanker Marc-Elie Kouassi or the center Lukas Amati, both 19 years old, and a 22-year-old front row at kick-off, the reigning quadruple French champions resisted on the Pierre-Fabre lawn, keeping their small point lead for 36 minutes against the fury from Castres.

But the CO may regret not having taken advantage of Toulouse's two yellow cards (22nd and 50th) and having reached half-time without scoring a single point on the scoreboard despite a large territorial domination and the support of the wind. The only consolation for the Tarnais, but very meager, is the defensive bonus.

. Pau is scared

Third in the standings at kick-off at La Rabine, the Pau Section also won away, at the promoted Vannetais (43-40), which has a fifth defeat in a row. But the Béarnais scared themselves until the end by conceding a scathing 26-3 in the second half.

The Bretons, who are no longer fanny in the standings thanks to this defensive bonus, even had a match point with a last touch in the 80th minute, 30 meters from the opposing line, stolen by the Pau alignment. No hold-up therefore, after being led 40-14 at half-time, with six Pau tries in 39 minutes including a 100m achievement by Desperes (34th) after a restart from his goal by Théo Attissogbe.

With 18 points, Sébastien Piqueronies' men are a step behind the Toulouse team and are now ahead of the Bayonnais (3rd, 17 pts) and the Bordelais (4th, 15 pts) who took a walk at the start of the afternoon against the LOU (51-28).

. The UBB has two faces

After 64 points against Racing 92 then 40 against Stade français, UBB, still deprived of Jalibert, this time reached the milestone of fifty, notably with a double from Cameron Woki and his fifth try this season for Tom Willis. But the reigning double European champions still have breathing holes, with a second half lost 21-12 and three tries to one.

The only undefeated leaders after the third day, like last season, the Lyonnais suffered a second setback in a row, after the 31-10 at the Stade Français. Like last season too. They are now 5th, with 14 points, ahead of Rochelais (6th, 13 pts) who got rid of Clermontois (7th, 10 pts) 38-13, with four tries in the second half.

Trailing 13-12 at halftime, the Maritimes took advantage of Loaloa's yellow card (57th) to enter the yellow goal twice.

. Racing exorcises Créteil

As for the two Ile-de-France clubs, the day was contrasted, with the 55-25 victory of Racing 92 (9th, 10 pts) against Perpignan (11th, 9 pts), in Créteil, after already two defeats this season for the Ciel et Blanc on this lawn, and the defeat of Stade français (8th, 10 pts) in Bayonne, 35-32.

Cursed in Créteil since the start of the season, with a correction against LOU (31-48) then against Bayonne at the last second (17-20), Patrice Collazo's players scored eight tries, including a double from their scrum half Antoine Gibert, in the wake of a 100% Fijian three-quarter line.

The Parisian pink soldiers wanted revenge for their last-second defeat in Bayonne last season (35-34). But they failed once again, after scoring five tries against four at Rowing. Only positive point: the defensive bonus won in the 80th minute thanks to a penalty try.

© 2026 AFP

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