French Top 14 round-two: Montpellier has no trouble with Racing Metro
Montpellier was able to rebound at home with a win over Racing Metro on the weekend.
Montpellier was clearly the better team, putting together a solid first half to claim a victory over Racing Metro. Metro opened an early lead; however it was quickly closed by a strong Montpellier side. The home team was able to put together a few first-half tries in order to take a convincing lead into the break. In the second stanza they were able to use their boots to keep Metro at bay, winning with a final score of 36-19.
Recap
Racing Metro’s Jonathan Wisniewski wasted no time getting his team on the board, hitting penalties in the first and eighth minutes respectively to give the visitors a 6-0 lead early.
Metro added to their strong start with a try in the 12th minute from winger Julien Saubade, and after Wisniewski made good on the conversion the visitors were able to celebrate an 11-0 lead.
Unfortunately for Racing, Montpellier seemed to wake up in the 15th minute. The home side started with a try from Geoffrey Doumayrou, to which fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc added a conversion and then a drop goal, closing the gap to 13-10. Doumayrou struck again in the 23rd minute, and after another Trinh-Duc conversion Montpellier took a 17-13 lead.
Winger Timoci Nagusa joined the action in the 29th minute crossing the whitewash for Montpellier’s third try of the match, extending the lead to 22-13.
The two sides stayed quiet for the remainder of the half allowing Montpellier to head into the break with a nine-point advantage.
Montpellier wasted no time getting back on the score sheet in the second stanza, as Trinh-Duc put through a penalty in the 44th minute to push the home sides lead to 25-13.
Wisniewski and Trinh-Duc went back-and-forth trading penalties until the 70th minute when Trinh-Duc put through his third penalty of the game to make the score 31-19.
Doumayrou added his third try of the day for good measure in the 80th minute, capping off an impressive 36-19 win for Montpellier.
After Montpellier was able to establish their game in the 15th minute, Racing could not contain them. The hosts battled hard for tries early, and kept up a substantial lead in the second half, settling for penalties from Trinh-Duc’s consistent boot.
Analysis
Montpellier struggled in the first week of competition, but seemed to find their game in their round two victory. Playing strong for the final 25 minutes of the first half, Montpellier showed they do have several reliable offensive weapons.
Racing Metro failed to replicate their form from the first week and even with Frans Steyn in the line-up could not battle a more prepared Montpellier side.
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