Toulouse make it three out of three with Biarritz win

Toulouse made it three wins out of three in the French first division after a hard-fought 18-6 away win over Biarritz on Saturday.

The three-time former European champions scored two tries through full-back Clement Poitrenaud to cement their place at the head of the Top 14.

Toulouse showed their strength in depth by resting Vincent Clerc, Jean-Baptist Elissalde and Argentina lock Patricio Albacete, with Cedric Heymans and Yannick Nyanga on the bench.

Dimitri Yachvili and Valentin Courrent exchanged penalties in the first quarter before winger Yves Donguy kicked ahead a spilled ball by Biarritz No 8 Samiu Vahafolau which Poitrenaud gathered up to score.

The Toulouse and France full-back got his brace halfway through the second period, a quick tap penalty seeing the ball go through the hands of Courrent, captain Yannick Jauzion and Maxime Medard before reaching Poitrenaud for the decisive blow in a hard-hitting, defence-oriented game.

Julien Dupuy hit a second penalty for Biarritz, but despite having All Black scrum-half Byron Kelleher sin-binned, Toulouse had the last laugh with Jauzion hitting a 66th-minute drop-goal.

Sapa-AFP