Paris - South African Rugby World Cup winning coach Jake White got off to a winning start at Montpellier as the Top 14 strugglers beat European and French champions Toulon 16-12 on Saturday.
White was brought in as a consultant to replace the suspended Fabien Galthie in an aim to stem the tide of eight losses in their last nine matches in European and domestic action.
And powered by a second half Alex Tulou try converted by Ben Lucas,
Montpellier grabbed a determined victory in front of
their home crowd to move up to seventh with 35 points,
a point behind Bordeaux (36), who fell 12-9 at
Racing-Metro, and ahead of Toulouse (33) who
play in Clermont on Sunday.
Benoit Paillaugue had put Montpellier ahead with two
early penalties as the score was balanced 6-6 at half-time while all of Toulon's points came off the boot of Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny.
Toulon remain second two points behind Stade Francai
s who fell 12-9 at Lyon on Friday in a game which
saw South African flyhalf Morne Steyn red-carded.
Steyn, the 30-year-old top-scorer at the 2011 World
Cup, had confidently kicked Stade into a 6-0 lead courtesy of a 40-metre penalty and a quick-thinking drop goal.
But after Mosese Ratuvou had cut the deficit with
the night's opening try, Steyn saw red in the 31st
minute for kicking the Fijian wing as the two tussled
on the ground.
It left Stade to play 50 minutes with 14 men and Lyon
took full advantage when Ratuvou added a second try
early in the second period, muscling his way over after
a sharp pass from Ricky Januarie.
Racing-Metro came from behind to beat visiting Bordeaux-Begles 12-9 and are now fourth equal on 41 points with Clermont.
Racing had trailed 6-9 at the break following three
Lionel Beauxis penalty kicks for Bordeaux but
powered back in the second half with Maxime Machenaud scoring all their points through penalties.
Castres, meanwhile, suffered a second straight loss for
the first time this season - falling 30-15 to relegation rivals La Rochelle.
In a bottom-of-the-table clash Brive were carried by
Gaetan Germain who scored all their points in a
25-9 win over Bayonne.
It was a lift for Brive a week after their hammering
by Bordeaux and allows Nicolas Godignon's side to
move up to ninth, three points above the relegation zone.
"It's not a relief because the season is still long but
it was an important match, in the heart of winter,
and I'm proud of the boys for doing what they needed,
" said Godignon.
"It's satisfying to see them leave with zero points because they're a team we're neck and neck with in the battle against relegation."
Bordeaux have been overtaken by Grenoble who are now fifth after bouncing back from consecutive defeats with a bonus point in a 33-19 win over Oyonnax.
