Top 14
Perpignan sound out a warning
Ian Moriarty
September 28, 2009
Perpignan centre David Marty runs with the ball, Perpignan v Bayonne, Top 14, Stade Aime Giral, Perpignan, France, August 15, 2009
Perpignan's David Marty has warned that there is more to come from his side in the wake of their victory over title rivals Clermont Auvergne © Getty Images
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Perpignan forwards coach Bernard Goutta was gushing about his sides' 19-3 victory over Clermont in a re-run of last season's Top 14 final.

"In the three years that I've been coaching at USAP, we've never played as well as that," said Goutta following their Stade Aimé Giral success. "We put our imprint on the match very early and scored two magnificent tries."

The victory pushed Perpignan above Clermont to the top spot for the first time this season and France centre David Marty warned that there was more to come from the Catalans.

"We prepared for the match a bit like it was a final. We're now leaders and even if that's not too important at this stage of the Top 14, it demonstrates again our abilities."

Stade Toulousain scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde has urged his team-mates to learn from their dour 9-9 draw against Stade Francais on Saturday. The home side put in another hugely disappointing performance, this time in front of a capacity 36,000 crowd at the Stadium de Toulouse and have only scored two tries in their last four matches.

"I'm not going to speak harshly [about the match]. We have to raise our heads," said Elissalde. "You always have difficult moments in a season. There you go. I believe that it will be beneficial."

Unsurprisingly, new Stade Francais coach Jacques Delmas was delighted with the result. "This match in Toulouse was a test," he said. "Our fear was always going to be our biggest test. But these two points will have done us well. We¹ll continue to build our route even if there are still many things to work on."

Meanwhile, Biarritz continued their ascent up the Top 14 table with a 23-9 victory over Toulon. Biarritz coach Jack Issac was happy with the result, which included a five-star performance from No.8 Imanol Harinordoquay, and described the game as, "our best since the start of the season."

"Up front in the scrum and at rucktime, I felt that we really dominated the Toulonais," he said, "and we created some excellent opportunities in the backs."

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