Top 8: Lille stand supreme

The big game of the day last weekend in France was the top-of-the-table clash between Blagnac St Orens (BSORF) and Lille.

The only undefeated teams, BSORF began with a two bonus point advantage over Lille, and were at home in Toulouse. But it was visitors Lille who proved narrowly the stronger, taking the first half 11-0 and holding out to win 14-5.

"It was a struggle, every minute was contested”, said Lille vice-captain Alexandra Pertus afterwards. “The game was played at a pace that we had not experienced in any other games so far except against Stade Toulousain. It was very hard and we felt it on Monday morning in our head and legs."

Stade themselves were also at home, where they proved far too strong for Romagnat, who still chase a first championship point since their promotion. Six tries to one, 39-13, was enough to give them a win and, with the bonus, put them equal second with local rivals BSORF.

Down in the relegation zone, Romagnat are joined by Cannes and Rennes – and these two also came together last weekend. For the two teams from the north of France this was as near to a local derby as is possible with two teams nearly 200km apart.

The game, in Rennes, not only took place in free but also after a delayed start… due to Caen having had to walk the last mile to the ground after a local street marathon had prevented their coach getting any closer to the ground. The first half was close, with Rennes going in 7-6 ahead. However in the second half, Rennes Fijian duo aided by Jade le Pesq and Sandrine Agricole’s return to rugby turned the game for the home side, giving them a 22-6 win.

Finally, if we take it that Lille, BSORF and Stade Toulousain are most likely to make the make the play-offs, the battle will be between Bobigny and Montpellier – and they also met last weekend. And, perhaps crucially, it was Montpellier, coming back from back-to-back home defeats, who travelled to Paris to win 30-17.

CLUB

P

W

D

L

PD

BP

PTS

1

LILLE METROPOLE RC VILLENEUVOIS

5

5

0

0

58

1

21

2

STADE TOULOUSAIN RUGBY FEMININ

5

4

0

1

86

3

19

2

BLAGNAC SAINT ORENS RUGBY FEMININ

5

4

0

1

113

3

19

4

MONTPELLIER R C

5

3

0

2

71

3

15

5

A C BOBIGNY 93 RUGBY

5

2

0

3

1

3

11

6

STADE RENNAIS RUGBY

5

2

0

3

-32

2

10

7

L OVALIE CAENNAISE

5

0

0

5

-161

1

1

8

A S M ROMAGNAT RUGBY FÉMININ

5

0

0

5

-136

0

0