Pau never ceases to surprise and wins against Toulouse

At the end of the fifth day of the top 14 on Sunday evening, the Baloise team beat Toulouse at home (13-9) and retained its place as co-leader of the tournament. Pau winger Reece Hewat – excellent this evening – scored a powerful try (16th) to reward his teammates’ efforts while international Melvin Jaminet responded with three kicks (14th, 20th, 25th). But in the rainy weather in Béarne, Baloise’s side rocked the Stade Toulousan, struggling to create play despite the presence of their international players (Jaminet, Capuzzo, Ake, Arnold and Muvaka). One of them, Frenchman Melvin Jaminet, opened the scoring against the Pole (0-3, 14th place) before Pau scored a huge goal that could have cost Ugo Mola’s men dearly.

At the conclusion of a long run, third-row Rhys Hewat succeeded in the locals’ first attempt (7-3, 16). On the candle, Atesugbe doubled the lead, going in after a Franks challenge, but VAR punished him with a foul in the air on Germain. From 14-3, the score rose to 7-6 thanks to the accuracy of Jaminet (20th place), again punishing Karam Pau five minutes later (7-9, 25th place). Facing great difficulty at the start of the match, the Green and White pulled their heads out of the water, capitalizing on errors from New Zealander Owen Franks. Simmonds distinguished the opener with his feet, with the first successful penalty kick (10-9, 36th) and then with two inspirations from his right paw, on the verge of hitting Bernier’s second attempt (38th and 39th). But the game remained locked, with the surprise leaders taking a one-point lead at half-time.

Toulouse without a solution

In the second half, Sebastien Piqueronis’ men returned with the same intention of seizing the ball from Toulouse, as they were suffering from a severe lack of inspiration. Pau invested in the opponent’s camp without finding any opportunity, except thanks to a penalty kick executed by Simmonds (13-9, 63) after his first failure at the post (52). This is an amount that the top scorer, Jaminet (73), found very bold in his choices, with an attempt that missed a kick 60 meters from the goal posts (57). Still alive in the last twenty minutes despite a poor attacking performance, Toulouse did not benefit from training. Newcomers Aldegheri, Placines, Retiere and Gourgues did not contribute much even if Stade Toulousain pressed in the final moments. The home defense, like Rhys Hewat, finally held out until the siren to achieve a prestigious success.

At the end of the second term in which only three points were scored, Pau claimed his fourth successive win and regained his place as leader of the top 14 teams, tied on points with Racing 92 and Stade Français. Despite the return of the Globalists, Toulouse were never able to turn the game around and were forced to settle for a defensive bonus point. Beto Mofaka and co will spend the week in sixth place before hosting Perpignan next Saturday (3pm).