Toulouse close the gap to leaders Clermont with big win

Yoann Huget scored a pair of tries as Toulouse closed the gap to Top 14 leaders Clermont Auvergne to three points with a bonus-point win over Stade Francais.

In a game heavy with incident, with Stade given four of the five yellow cards shown, Toulouse eased to a 49-20 home victory and kept the pressure on table-topping Clermont.

Huget crossed after just five minutes and, although Sekou Macalou swiftly responded, the hosts kicked a series of penalties through Thomas Ramos and took advantage of three Stade yellow cards in quick succession as Julien Marchand scored the game’s third try.

Toulouse accelerated out of sight after the break, with Huget scoring again before yet another sin binning led to further tries from Romain Ntamack and Francois Cros.

Even with Toulouse down to 14 men for the final 10 minutes, Maxime Mermoz added gloss to the scoreline before Hanro Liebenberg’s last-gasp consolation.

La #TeamChocolatine s’impose avec le bonus offensif face au @SFParisRugby sur le score de 49 à 20 ! #STSFP #GoST pic.twitter.com/rbLimj2H2L

— Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) December 2, 2018

Earlier in the day, Bordeaux-Begles won 22-11 at Perpignan after Romain Buros’ double.

Bordeaux trailed to Karl Chateau’s opening try, but Buros crossed and a successful conversion put the visitors in front at half-time, and they kicked on from there.

Buros went over again and then, in the dying seconds, Serin Baptist’s try made sure of victory.

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