Dax 9
(6) Toulouse 25 (6)
Leaders
Toulouse turned on the power with a 19-point second half as
they overwhelmed Dax to stretch their winning run to 11
consecutive victories in Top 14 – a new record.
The visitors raced into
an 6-0 lead courtesy of a second-minute drop-goal from
Florian Fritz and a fifth-minute penalty from the returning
John-Baptiste Elissalde, but Dax battled back valiantly to
be level 6-6 at the interval thanks to a penalty and
drop-goal from fly-half Maxime Petitjean.
Toulouse had
threatened, especially through captain for the night Vincent
Clerc on the wing, but the freezing conditions didn’t
exactly encourage free-flowing rugby and it took the
defending champions some time to find their usual rhythm.
A half-time talking to
from Guy Noves usually does the trick on these occasions,
and so it proved as they soon re-opened their six-point
advantage thanks to a further brace of Elissalde penalties
as the international scrum-half flourished on his return to
the side after being sidelined with a fractured finger.
The mounting pressure
eventually brought its inevitable reward when centre Maleli
Kunavore – another back from injury - went over for the
game’s only try after 51 minutes, with Elissalde again on
target as he added the extras.
Petitjean reduced the
arrears with his second penalty of the night but the gulf in
class was evident when Noves decided Elissalde deserved a
rest after an hour’s play and brought on Top 14 Player of
the Year Byron Kelleher in his stead.
Fly-half Freddie Michalak assumed the kicking duties in
Elissalde’s absence and boosted the visitors’ tally by a
further six points in the final quarter with a neatly taken
drop-goal and late penalty.
The win temporarily
lifted the champions seven points clear of Stade Francais
and extended their winning streak to 15 in all competitions.
They have also now gone three matches without conceding a
try – ominous form indeed as they head towards the business
end of the season.
Dax, meanwhile, will be
disappointed not to have at least garnered a losing bonus
point and have a worrying couple of months ahead of them
after falling to their fifth successive defeat, and their
third on the trot in Top 14.
