French Top 14 leaders Lyon suffered their first defeat of the season, beaten 31-10 at Stade Francais as Pau moved up to second in the table with a 39-17 win over La Rochelle thanks to in-form Portugal winger Rodrigo Marta.
Kerr-Barlow sparked the comeback after half an hour to help claim his side’s second win of the season. Pau kept up the pace with Lyon, hammering Ronan O’Gara’s side as the league’s leading try scorer Marta notched up his sixth effort of the campaign in four outings. Hooker Quentin Lespiaucq and prop Karl Sorin claimed consolation tries for La Rochelle with Montoya’s compatriot Facundo Isa and Samoa centre Tumua Manu diving over for the home side. “We had opportunities.
Earlier Perpignan, who survived a relegation playoff last season, upset Champions Cup holders Bordeaux-Begles 38-25. Racing 92 lost a second home game of the season after being edged 20-17 by Bayonne, for whom Ewan Johnson’s scored a match-winning try three minutes from the end.
“I don’t think the score really reflects the match, but in the end we cracked a bit in the battle of wills,” Lyon hooker Guillaume Marchand said. “We made loads of mistakes, but what we’ll take away from this is the players’ spirit,” Perpignan prop Enzo Forletta told Canal . The opposition scored three tries from three attacks that’s what decided the match,” said Bordeaux scrum-half Maxime Lucu.
