Mon 27 Aug 2012 | 12:24
Top 14 Round Two - Best of the weekend wrap-up

11
Comments

After two rounds of the French Top 14 it's the usual suspects at the top of the table, but that's not to say the second round wasn't without surprises. Here is a quick wrap-up of the best of the action, which includes a whole host of big collisions and great play.

Our weekend highlights package starts with a bang as we look at the eventful game between Bordeaux-Beglex and Perpignan, and specifically a huge charge from Henry Tuilagi.

The match wasn't without incident as four players were shown yellow cards, with some of those included here. The home side grabbed the upset win thanks to a try scored by Andrew Mailei.

One of our regular contributors was in Paris to watch Racing Metro play Toulon, a game that resulted in an away win for the latter, thanks to a late Jonny Wilikinson penalty. It also featured some excellent tries, scored by Virimi Vakatawa for the home side, and Matt Giteau for Toulon.

Alexis Pallison was unfortunately knocked out just short of full time, and had to leave the field on a stretcher. He was taken to hospital for scans but will be okay, despite the horrific clash.

Montpellier beat Clermont 13-8 but the latter almost scored one of the tries of the season, which also would have been the winner as time was effectively up.

Elsewhere, Zee Ngwenya scored for Biarritz as they beat Agen 25-22, and Toulouse beat Mont-de-Marsan 37-22, despite trailing 19-17 at halftime.

If you saw anything else that you think should be featured, please get in touch with a request

11 Comments

  • alfred_wallace
    12:45 PM 01/09/2012

    Hi =)

    It may be true for others, I don't know, but I'm not excluding Agen or anybody else, it's just that this match was not great on the gameplay level. Last week there was a good try from them in the video, maybe You missed it ? :p

    It starts @ 1:55 : http://www.rugbydump.com/2012/08/2725/top-14-20122013-round-one-select-highlights

  • moddeur
    11:53 AM 29/08/2012

    Oh no no no, I'm not offended at all, in fact I'm worried that there may be more diving than even a few years ago. Is it getting worse year by year, or is it still only some scrum-halves and a few backs?
    I am indeed a forward (front-row), but at a super-amateur level where scrums are simulated for lack of a proper medical license to participate in scrums. The other day I was playing "touch rugby" with a few backs, since our season hasn't restarted yet, and my coach complained that I was running like a Fiji player when ball in hand, so I answered "but come on, I hardly ever touch the ball in matches, can't I just fool around like a back just this time?" (I'm generally too busy lying at the bottom of a pile of bodies, having casual conversations with other forwards trapped at the bottom too, wink wink)

  • guy
    9:59 PM 28/08/2012

    I guess, looking inside, the reason all rugby players bitch about football is exactly this kind of stuff.

    The funny thing is: I have less problems showing my non rugby playing friends and colleagues (so that's basicly everyone) a video where Manu Tuilagi hits Ashton in the face. Sure it's not proper behaviour and it should not feature in a under 12's rugby instruction video. But at least they act like man! Nobody falls over (I know my lights would have gone out) and when the ref shows them both a card they march of without whining.

    Just to make sure: I am not blaming this on French rugby so you should definitely not feel offended. The way you talk about rugby I know you are a front row forward, cut from the right kind of wood. I love French rugby, mainly because you never know what to expect...most of the time in a very entertaining way.

  • moddeur
    9:19 PM 28/08/2012

    I feel absolutely horrible inside when I see anyone taking a dive (even a scrum-half). I'm pretty sure 99.99% of rugby fans everywhere hate it too and I'm also sure that pretty much nothing evades the camera's glance so I also don't understand the reasoning behind it.
    I do remember that front row incident, I think it was Ouedraogo. Horrible horrible.

  • guy
    8:59 PM 28/08/2012

    I agree with you; it is definitely a minority...but this minority is annoying the crap out of every rugby supporter.

    Also, I really don't understand the reasoning behind it; if you decide to take a dive you must know that you're making an absolute fool of yourself, not just for the supporters that are in the stadium but, thanks to sites like RD!!!, for the entire global rugby community.

    By the way: scrumhalves are quite cheecky by nature. But I also seem to vaguely remember some front row forward crashing down after he was touched by a winger. Must be somewhere on this site. And of course we had the Brussow incident at the world cup.

  • alfred_wallace
    8:00 PM 28/08/2012

    I agree, this is mainly the work of a scrum-half, though this one is really lame : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqOV6FI-2qw

    This will kill our beloved sport if it spreads :'|

  • moddeur
    4:05 PM 28/08/2012

    I watch a lot of Top14 and my feeling is that the whole "diving" smudge on French rugby is caused by one in every three scrum-halves, and about 1 back (center, wing, fullback) per team. I've almost never seen a front-rower go down.
    I hope I'm objective, because I wouldn't like the following definition of rugby to require an adjustment:
    "Rugby is a game in which as soon as an Italian player goes down, he gets right back up on his feet"

  • ando
    10:03 PM 27/08/2012

    Great to see Gits still out there playing some good rugby. Such a shame the ARU gave up on him as a Wallaby when they did! I think they probably regret that now with the backline woes they have.

    No surprise to see Cudmore up to his same old dirty tricks again...

  • rodofle
    9:18 PM 27/08/2012

    Some crazy display

  • guy
    8:37 PM 27/08/2012

    How do those French do it: combining some of the most gorgeous rugby with some of the most pathetic soccer dives.

    Anyway: thanks RD! Some top notch rugby in this video.

  • blackened
    7:16 PM 27/08/2012

    These Top 14 roundups are one of the highlights of coming here.