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Tomane hat-trick inspires rampant Montpellier, McAllister miss costs Toulouse
Montpellier remained firmly in the hunt for a top-two finish as Joe Tomane scored a first-half hat-trick in 61-22 battering of rock-bottom Bayonne on Sunday.
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It was a classy showing from Montpellier at the Altrad Stadium, with the hosts running in nine tries against already-relegated Bayonne to stay four points adrift of second-placed Clermont and a guaranteed semi-final berth.
Tomane raced over after just six minutes, before scores from Antoine Battut and Francois Steyn inside 16 minutes left Bayonne facing a mountain to climb.
Three more tries arrived before the break with Tomane completing his treble either side of Timoci Nagusa touching down and they led 40-8 at half-time, with Julien Jane providing Bayonne’s only try of the half.
Martin Laveau further reduced the arrears, but there was never any realistic chance of a comeback being mounted as further tries arrived from Steyn, Akapusi Qera and Willie du Plessis – who also amassed 21 points with the boot – Tomaakino Taufa’s late effort nothing more than a consolation.
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Classement et résultats : à retrouver sur lnr.fr! pic.twitter.com/92jYEcRpC5— LNR.FR (@lnr_fr) April 16, 2017
Elsewhere, Luke McAlister failed to secure a last-gasp draw for Toulouse as his missed conversion saw the hosts slump to a 10-8 loss against defending champions Racing 92.
The visitors led through a three-pointer from Dan Carter and an eighth-minute penalty try, with Samuel Brands’ penalty the only points Toulouse accrued by half-time.
Racing’s hopes took a huge hit when Viliamu Afatia was sent off before Ben Tameifuna’s sin-binning left them down to 13 men.
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The numerical advantage led to Maxime Medard going over with two minutes remaining, but McAlister failed to add the extras as Racing ground out a victory that leaves them fifth.
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