In the 7th round of Top 14, Section Paloise defeated Stade Toulousain 30-26 at Stade du Hameau, seizing the top position in the league. This heroic win highlights standout performances like Beka Gorgadze's, while Toulouse suffers from its away errors. Explore the tops and flops of this intense match.
Saturday evening at Stade du Hameau, Section Paloise achieved a feat by overturning Stade Toulousain in the 7th round of Top 14, winning 30-26 and becoming league leaders. Georgian captain Beka Gorgadze, 29, was titanic, radiating his influence over a heroic Pau team. He missed just one tackle out of thirteen and, at the final whistle, chose the touchline over a penalty that might have secured only a draw, symbolizing his team's boldness.
Julien Marchand, returning after three matches out with a calf injury, opened the scoring with a powerful try in the 3rd minute, marking a thunderous comeback for Toulouse. Grégoire Arfeuil covered 44 meters with the ball and beat five defenders, while Aaron Grandidier scored the decisive try with strong activity. Blair Kinghorn, Toulouse's Scottish fly-half, tallied 16 points from kicks, including a penalty over 50 meters, keeping his team ahead for nearly 80 minutes despite the loss.
On the flops side, Ange Capuozzo gifted 14 points to Pau through errors: a handling mistake after his opportunistic try leading to Émilien Gailleton's score, and a poorly managed restart exploited by Grandidier for Pau's second try in the 47th minute. Anthony Jelonch received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Hugo Auradou (26th) and committed another illicit offense, telling Canal+ at halftime: “We have to stop with the indiscipline. Me first, because I made mistakes.”
This defeat marks Toulouse's third loss in as many Top 14 away games, following Montpellier and Bayonne, highlighting an away slump for the powerhouse from Haute-Garonne.