Pau-Toulouse: Hewat omnipresent, Capuozzo invisible... the tops and the flops

Tops

The man of the match undoubtedly. The Australian third line is the great architect of the success of the Paloise Section. He scored the first and only try of the match, in force a quarter of an hour into the game, before proving uncompromising in defense. For 80 minutes, he wore down his Toulouse opponents until the siren. While Toulouse pushed to achieve the hold-up, Hewat scratched the ball on his supports five meters from his in-goal. A decisive action and logically rewarded by a whistle. Omnipresent, the former Aurillac player put out an XXL performance, at the best of times against the reigning French champion.

In a locked match, the efficiency of a scorer often makes the difference. And in this little game, Pau relied on its opening half, author of 8 points (two penalties, one conversion). Despite a failure in the post, Simmonds adjusted the sights quite well in different positions and ultimately dominated the statistics sheet. Beyond his attempts against the poles, the 26-year-old also proved valuable in the distribution, notably being at the initiative of two dangerous situations with clever kicks - one grazing, the other in diagonal - on the right wing. Number 10 delivered a clean, no-nonsense copy.

Four victories in five days for the Section Paloise, surprising leader of the Top 14 tied with Racing 92 and Stade Français. This evening, the Pau collective dominated Toulouse and deserves its success. Before hosting Bordeaux-Bègles next Saturday, the Béarnais have had a perfect start to the season in their Hameau stadium. No one has won in their lair since La Rochelle last March, the UBB has been warned.

Flops

Where was the twirling Italian winger this Sunday? In this Halloween week, the former Grenoblois passed through the meeting like a ghost. He never had the opportunity to provoke with ball in hand, the fault of Toulouse's completely non-existent offensive animation. Pau annihilated the threat posed by Capuozzo, who did so much damage to the defenses of the Top 14 last year.

Entering the game at half-time in place of Mathis Castro-Ferreira, the French third line missed his 40 minutes by being particularly undisciplined. Several whistles punished him on the ground, allowing Pau to breathe while the gap remained minimal. Like the Toulouse entrants as a whole (Aldegheri, Retiere, Gourgues, etc.), Placines did not help Ugo Mola's team to get its head above water. Worse, his blunders were costly.

Expected at the turning point against the surprising leader, the outgoing champion delivered a tasteless collective performance, without ideas or energy. The Stadistes relied solely on the foot of Melvyn Jaminet, nevertheless author of two long-distance failures. Logically, Peato Mauvaka's teammates even if they console themselves with the offensive bonus. Reaction expected at home against Perpignan next Saturday.