Aussies avoid Top League relegation

Sat, Jan 30, 2016, 10:00 PM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman

Aussies found themselves among some mixed results in the Top 14 overnight.

Fullback Jesse Mogg played a full 80 minutes as Montpellier took a 19-15 win over Clermont.

His fellow former Wallabies, Ben Mowen and Nic White, both came off the bench in the match playing 13 and 12 minutes, respectively.

It was a tough night at the office for Wallabies Adam Ashley-Cooper and Sekope Kepu, as Bordeaux went down to Castres Olympique 19-9.

Ashley-Cooper played the full game for the men in maroon, while Kepu came off the bench after just six minutes.

Capped Wallaby Peter Kimlin played just 17 minutes in Grenoble’s win over Agen on Sunday morning.

Kimlin started at lock for the French side but was replaced by James Percival early on.

Quade Cooper has been confirmed as Toulon’s starting 10 for its match against Stade Francais on Monday morning.

Cooper has become the regular first-choice flyhalf in recent weeks with Matt Giteau and Freddie Michalak unavailable.

Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell also returns to the Toulon starting XV, playing at fullback, while James O’Connor will come off the bench.

World Cup halfback Will Genia has not been named for Stade Francais, stretching his absence from the side to almost a month.

Drew Mitchell will start at fullback for Toulon. Photo: Getty Images

PREMIERSHIP

A last gasp try gave Peter Betham’s Leicester Tigers a 19-18 win over Gloucester at Kingsholm.

Betham played the full 80 minutes, with the Tigers’ Logovi Mulipola scoring in the 78th minute and a Tommy Bell conversion clinching the narrow win.

PRO12

Lock Mark Chisholm was the sole try scorer as Munster defeated Zebre 16-12 overnight.

Chisholm crashed over in the 6th minute as the Irish side claimed the win, while scrumhalf Luke Burgess played a full match for Zebre.

TOP LEAGUE

Bernard Foley’s Ricoh Black Rams emphatically avoided the possibility of relegation, with a 76-0 win over the Osaka Police on Saturday.

Foley came off the bench in the 59th minute, with Ricoh already 55 points ahead but the flyhalf was still in the thick of the action, converting the final four tries in the game.

Nick Cummins’s Coca Cola West Red Sparks scraped through their play off, to secure their 2016-17 Top League spot.

Cummins played the second half as the Red Sparks drew 14-14 with the Kyuden Vortex but as the existing Top League side, they were granted the spot for next year.

Sam Norton-Knight played 25 mintues for the NEC Green Rockets as they sealed their Top League spot, with a 17-3 win over the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

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