Lille win championship rematch
Lille travelled to Montpellier last weekend – a venue where they have never won before – to meet their biggest rivals in a repeat of last season’s championship final. Who would draw first blood in his year’s campaign?
Published by John Birch, September 28th, 2016
3 minute read
Alexandra Pertus - scorer of the winning try for Lille (Photo: La Voix du Nord)
Despite losing five players to the European Sevens Championship, the Villeneuvoises returned from their trip south in triumph after a fierce and committed game.
Leading by just six points at halftime, the northerners defense stood firm against the attacks of their opponents in the second half, with the tireless tackling of Marine Cuvillon and Gina Di Muzio standing out.
Despite their effort, Montpellier were still able to break though, but an Alexandra Pertus try on the hour gave Lille just enough of an advantage to see out time, winning 13-10.
Still undefeated, the champions are now second in the Top8 behind Blagnac Saint Orens, who picked up their third attacking bonus in three games as they destroyed recent promoted Romagnat with a nine-try 53-0 home victory that puts them two points clear at the top.
Just over the river from BSORF, Stade Toulousain were also picking up a bonus point against Rennes, though their visitors put up more of a battle before going down by 36-10.
However, despite the defeat, it was not all bad news for Bretons as they announced that they have signed Fijian sevens stars Litia Naiqato and Luisa Tisolo, who were packing their bags for France as the game was being played. Over 150 men are already played in the French leagues, but Litia and Luisa are the first two women to be offered rugby contracts.In the final game, Caen came agonisingly close to their first win in a year when went down just 15-13 against Bobigny in Paris. However, the result was good enough for the Normans to pick up their first league point of the year and so move off the bottom of the table.
CLUB
P
W
D
L
PD
BP
PTS
1
BLAGNAC SAINT ORENS RUGBY FEMININ
3
3
0
0
117
3
15
2
LILLE METROPOLE RC VILLENEUVOIS
3
3
0
0
44
1
13
3
MONTPELLIER R C
3
2
0
1
63
2
10
4
STADE TOULOUSAIN RUGBY FEMININ
3
2
0
1
16
1
9
5
A C BOBIGNY 93 RUGBY
3
1
0
2
-4
2
6
6
STADE RENNAIS RUGBY
3
1
0
2
-43
0
4
7
L OVALIE CAENNAISE
3
0
0
3
-101
1
1
8
A S M ROMAGNAT RUGBY FÉMININ
3
0
0
3
-92
0
0