English Woman's Journal - Toulouse turn on Top 14 power despite sub-par performance

Toulouse scored four tries as they collected a bonus point with a 31-13 win over Perpignan, but one of their try scorers Pierre-Louis Barassi said the performance had not met the club's standards.

"This may be one of the worst matches played on our home turf in quite some time," said the centre. "When we don't put in the necessary effort, we have only ourselves to blame.

"We were complacent and lacked aggression... The result is good, but we made too many bad choices."

Pau also scored four tries and secured a bonus point as they beat Stade Francais, impressive winners in week one, 34-10.

Lyon opened the day by edging to a 25-18 win at Montauban, playing their first Top 14 home game since 2010.

"It's always special when a newly-promoted team plays its first home game," said Lyon prop Thomas Moukoro. "We wanted to play a serious game and show them respect."

Bayonne are a point behind the early leaders after a second win of the season. Joris Segonds booted a 76th-minute penalty to secure a 26-23 home win over Montpellier.

"We didn't do what we had planned, and we gave ourselves a scare. We didn't want to leave it to chance for our first home game, but that's what happened," said Bayonne wing Arnaud Erbinartegaray.

Clermont's Australian lock Rob Simmons made some unwanted history as he became the first Top 14 player to receive an orange card.

Under the new rule, the carded player is sent off but can be replaced by another player after 20 minutes.

Since there were only 14 minutes to play when Simmons caught La Rochelle's Gregory Alldritt high, Clermont ended the game a man short.

Hosts La Rochelle exploited their advantage to blow open a tight game with two late tries as they won 34-16.

T.Burns--EWJ