Oyonnax, Brive and Provence Rugby are the last three unbeaten sides in the league. At the other end of the table, Colomiers are the only club yet to win, with one point.

Three perfect records

Oyonnax recorded the biggest win of the round, 52-17 against Aurillac, with a try bonus point. Three wins from three, two bonus points, fourteen points: the best tally in the league. At Charles-Mathon, back row Hugo Hermet opened the scoring in the 7th minute, a week after scoring against Biarritz.

Brive and Provence Rugby follow on thirteen points, also unbeaten. Brive beat Nice 38-17 with a bonus point.

The round’s results

Biarritz 38-20 Colomiers, Soyaux-Angoulême 45-7 Montauban, Béziers 21-20 Nevers, Provence Rugby 47-42 Narbonne, Dax 27-20 Valence-Romans, Oyonnax 52-17 Aurillac, Brive 38-17 Nice, Grenoble 33-39 Agen.

Agen win it in five minutes at Grenoble

This was the most unexpected result. Trailing 33-29 in the 64th minute, SU Agen turned the game around against FC Grenoble to win 39-33, their first win of the season after two heavy defeats.

It all came down to the last five minutes. In the 75th, Théo Lavoine was yellow-carded and Grenoble finished with fourteen men. Julien Koteureu scored straight away in the 77th, converted by Jules Soulan, who added a penalty in the 79th. Ten points for Agen in five minutes, including the decisive try while Grenoble were a man down.

Thirteen tries between Provence Rugby and Narbonne

The game in Aix-en-Provence produced 89 points, the highest total of the round. Provence Rugby scored their 47 points without a single penalty: seven tries and six conversions from Romain Trouilloud, who scored two tries, as did Etonia Waqa.

Trailing 21-0 in the 21st minute, Narbonne replied with six tries. In the 69th, Provence still led 47-28, before the visitors scored twice, in the 76th and 80th, both converted by Hugo Goyenech. Narbonne snatched a losing bonus point, and Provence missed out on a try bonus point by one try, as they needed three more than their opponents.

Nevers leave with a single point again

Béziers won 21-20, their first win of the season, and Nevers took their third losing bonus point in three rounds. Beaten 21-25 by Montauban, 26-28 in Narbonne, then 20-21 at Raoul-Barrière: three defeats by a combined six points, and still no win.

Efitusi Ma’afu scored in the 78th minute. The conversion would have levelled the scores, but it missed.

The standings after three rounds

  1. Oyonnax 14 pts, 2. Brive 13, 3. Provence Rugby 13, 4. Biarritz 10, 5. Soyaux-Angoulême 9, 6. Dax 9, 7. Montauban 8, 8. Grenoble 7, 9. Valence-Romans 7, 10. Nice 5, 11. Aurillac 5, 12. Narbonne 5, 13. Béziers 4, 14. Agen 4, 15. Nevers 3, 16. Colomiers 1.

67 tries were scored in eight matches, more than eight per game, with eleven yellow cards and one red. Colomiers, beaten in Biarritz on Thursday, remain the only club in the league without a win.