Pro D2: Weekend Action
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The opening weekend of action from the French second-tier Pro D2 kicked off last weekend and kicked straight into gear with some shock results and excellent tries.
League newcomers RC Massy Essonne provided the biggest upset of the weekend as they dispatched Carcassone 49-10 away from home, despite being 15-point underdogs for their league opener.
Perpignan's emphatic 60 point victory over TOP14 relegated Bayonne highlighted how difficult they will be to beat this year after a disappointing 6th place finish last season.
Pre-tournament favourites Grenoble defeated Dax at the Stade Maurice Boyau thanks to the accurate boot of David Mele.
The league table after the first around of action
Angouleme vs Nevers
Angouleme welcomed newly promoted Nevers to the Pro D2 on Friday. Angouleme outscored Nevers 3 tries to one winning the match 27-5.
Ill discipline cost Nevers as they spent 20 minutes of the match with 14 men. Nevers did, however, opening their try-scoring account in the competition through lock Gautier Gibouin.
Nevers will face Vannes in their first home Pro D2 match on Friday, while Angouleme will host Dax.
See full match highlights here
Aurillac Vs Colomiers
Colomiers looked like they had the upper-hand for most of the game but the Aurillac came back later in the match.
Colomiers were able to hold off the Aurillac pressure and survive winning the match by 7 points. Final score: 23-30
Aurillac will face Montauban away from home in the next round of action, while Colomiers will clash with Perpignan on Sunday.
See full match highlights here
Beziers Vs Vannes
Beziers edged Vannes in their opening Pro D2 match despite a late try by Blaise Dumas.
Vannes spent 20 minutes with 14 men on the field after Manoa Vosawai (42nd minute) and Carwyn Jones (51st minute) were yellow carded, while Bezier also had two players yellow carded Vitoloio Manukula (63rd minute), Dorian Marco-Pena (80th minute).
Beziers will face Bayonne on Friday, while Vannes will be the first side to visit Nevers.
Carcassonne vs RC Massy Essonne
Massy made their presence known in the Pro D2 after they beat Carcassone 10-49 in their opening match of the season.
The newly promoted side scored 6 tries, converting 5 of them and added 3 penalties to their total.
Massy will have a tougher challenge this Friday as they travel to newly relegated side Grenoble before they play their first home match against Montauban next week.
Carcassone will look to bounce back on Thursday when they face Biarritz.
Narbonne vs Montauban
Another tight encounter with the sides only being separated by 5 points. Montauban began the game well and looked to continue their advantage but Narbonne drew back and made it a tight affair, Montauban eventually ran out 18-13 victors.
Narbonne will face Mont-de-Marsan on Friday, while Montauban will host Aurillac.
Biarritz Olympique Vs Mont-de-Marsan
Biarritz got off to a shaky start despite winning the match 24-15. They were a man down after 46 minutes when Elvis Levi was shown a red.
Luckily for them their fly half Pierre Bernard was on point to score all of his side's points slotting 3 drop kicks and 5 penalty kicks.
Biarrittz face Carcassone next while Mont-de-Marsan will host Narbonne.
Perpignan Vs Bayonne
Perpignan raced to the top of the table after they beat Bayone 66-6 in what was a truly one-sided affair.
Johnathan Bousquet and Jacques-Louis Potgieter both scored two tries as Perpignan ended the match having scored 10 tries in total.
Perpignan will meet Colomiers on Sunday, while Bayonne will host Beziers on Friday.
Dax vs Grenoble
Grenoble and Dax battled it out in the final match of the weekend.
Dax got on the board early through a Maxime Delonca try but from their it was Grenoble's games as they scored 3 tries to win the match 13-28.
Grenoble will have their first home game of the season when they face Massy on Friday, while Dax will be looking for thier first win of the season when they face Anouleme.
5 OF THE BEST TRIES FROM ROUND 1
Midi Olympique Team of the Weekend
