Toulouse Stay Top as Marchand Leads Three-Try Burst in 28-18 Win Over Clermont

Stade Ernest-Wallon has seen better Toulouse performances than this one, and it has certainly seen louder ones. But there is something to be said for winning without ever quite hitting top gear, and on Saturday afternoon the Top 14 leaders did exactly that, beating Clermont 28-18 in a match they controlled from the eighth minute onwards without ever fully putting away.

It took Julien Marchand eight minutes to set the tone. The hooker crashed over from close range, and though the conversion was missed, the message was clear: Toulouse intended to play this game in Clermont's half, with their pack, on their terms. Four minutes later Teddy Thomas crossed for the second, and by the time Santiago Daroque added a third in the 26th minute, the home side led 19-3 and the game already felt like it was following a familiar script.

Clermont, though, are not a side that folds quietly, even in a season that has tested them. Baptiste Jauneau's try in the 35th minute, converted by Harry Plummer, got them back within nine at the break, and when Plummer added a penalty two minutes into the second half, the gap was down to six and Toulouse had something to think about. For a few minutes the momentum wobbled. Clermont's forwards started winning collisions, the crowd grew quieter, and the leaders looked, briefly, like a team that could be caught.

That is when Valentin Delpy took the game by the scruff of the neck. The fly-half had already converted two of the first-half tries; in the second half his boot did the talking, with penalties in the 51st, 65th and 70th minutes stretching the lead back out to thirteen. Clermont lost Nabil Ez Zahouany to the sin-bin just after the hour, and though Théo Frier's late try in the 77th minute gave the visitors a consolation, it never threatened to become more than that.

The result keeps Toulouse exactly where they want to be: top of the Top 14 with 32 points from nine matches, seven wins and two defeats, and winners of four of their last five. It also settles a small score. When these sides last met in Toulouse back in April, Clermont left with a 27-24 win. This time the home side made sure there would be no repeat.

For Clermont the picture is gloomier. One win in their last five, tenth in the table on sixteen points, and a gap opening up between them and the play-off places. They showed enough in patches here, in Jauneau's opportunism and Frier's late finish, to suggest the season is not lost, but patches do not win leagues. Toulouse, meanwhile, march on: not always beautiful, not always convincing, but top of the table all the same. In November, that is usually enough.