Toulon earn victory and a bonus point against Clermont!

Rugby Club Toulonnais won 41-19 against Clermont at the Stade Mayol, last Sunday, on day 11 of the Top 14, and earned an additional bonus point for their last home game of the year.
Our men in red and black wanted to make a strong performance in front of the home crowd that had flocked to the stadium, in order to keep up the momentum after a series of good results. It just took Eben Etzebeh five minutes to be decisive: our world champion intercepted a pass by Lopez and, after a 40-metre run, scored his first ever try in the Top 14. 7-0.
After fifteen minutes, the Toulon maul went forward. Serin squeezed the ball out and passed it to Louis Carbonel. The Toulon fly-half kicked the ball to wing Bryce Heem, who grabbed it and grounded it in the in-goal area. 12-0.
After Anthony Belleau converted a penalty, the Toulon players were solid and put the pressure on their opponents. After an attacking line-out, Toulon grabbed the ball and the whole team pushed forward. After an attempt by Louis Carbonel, prop Beka Gigashvili pierced through the Clermont backline and found a narrow space into the in-goal area. 22-0.
Clermont then bounced back and had most of the possession. Eben Etzebeh intercepted a pass, but the ball fell back into the hands of Sipili Falatea, who scored Clermont’s first try of the game. 22-5.
Just before half-time, Toulon pushed forward again and Raphaël Lakafia scored another try, converted by Anthony Belleau. 29-5 at half-time.
Clermont were dominant in the early part of the second half. After a good move by Laidlaw, Damien Penaud dodged two tackles and scored his team’s second try of the game.
Toulon then had possession and, after a scrum, Louis Carbonel made a clever pass to Julien Hériteau, who scored Toulon’s fifth try of the game. 34-12.
Toulon pushed forward again and, after a foul by one of the Clermont fullbacks, the home team scored another try. After sixty minutes, Toulon were 41-12 ahead!
Clermont did not give up and then scored a third try, but Toulon won the game 41-19 and scored an additional bonus point. They now extend their unbeaten run to eight games and climb up to third spot in the Top 14 table.