JONNY SEXTON WILL not miss out on European Cup rugby next season after his Racing Métro side easily beat Heineken Cup semi-finalists Clermont at Stade Yves du Manoir.
Sexton contributed three points with the boot as he shared the goal-kicking duties with scrum-half Maxime Machenaud. Juan-Martin Hernandez started the scoring with a seventh minute drop goal and Argentine winger Juan Inhohh rounded out the 22-6 win with a 76th minute try. Racing are now fourth with a game to play and have secured a playoff spot and the European ticket that comes with it.
Sexton [pictured below flexing his muscles] and his teammates celebrated the achievement in the dressing room post-match:
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
European champions Toulon warmed up for next weekend’s Heineken Cup semi-final clash with Munster by edging Perpignan closer to the drop. Freddie Michalak kicked 26 points for Toulon, who also ran in four tries, as they demolished the Catalan side 46-31.
This Virgile Bruni try — with Toulon testing Perpignan from wing to wing — gives a hint at what Munster, who beat Connacht 32-23 this eveing, will be up against in Marseilles:
Grenoble — with Bernard Jackman and Mike Prendergast on the coaching staff — gave up a late penalty to Bayonne in a 21-21 draw. Irish scrum-half James Hart kicked 11 points but missed a late conversion. The miss would prove costly as Martin Bustos knocked over a penalty with six minutes left on the clock.
Toulouse on the precipice
Toulouse will have to wait until the last game of the season to make sure of a Top 14 play-off spot while Perpignan slipped closer to a first relegation since 1911.
19-time champions Toulouse, who have reached the semi-finals at least for the past 20 seasons, were held to a 19-19 draw by relegation-threatened Oyonnax to occupy the sixth and last place for the play-offs.
They are level on points with Stade Francais who claimed a bonus point in Saturday’s late game in a 37-23 win over and Bordeaux-Begles. But Stade have the toughest task of the last weekend in two weeks’ time when they must travel to table-topping Toulon while Toulouse are at home to mid-table Grenoble.
Top 14 results
- Oyannax 19-19 Toulouse
- Perpignan 31-46 Toulon
- Biarritz 19-13 Brive
- Grenoble 21-21 Bayonne
- Racing Métro 22-6 Clermont
- Stade Fracais 29-13 Bordeaux Begles
Additional reporting © AFP, 2014
