397 points, 54 tries and two sendings-off in seven matches. Round three mostly pulled the top of the table away from the bottom.
Lyon move clear, and by some distance
Lyon beat Pau 51-25 and lead the championship outright with 14 points from a possible 15 after three rounds. Since 2005 only one club has done better at this stage, Clermont in 2015-16 with 15 points, and four others have matched it. With 139 points scored in three matches, Lyon are behind only the Clermont side of 2018-19.
Behind them, Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles follow on 10 points. The champions won 29-23 against Vannes in Rennes after trailing 13-0, and Bordeaux closed the round on Sunday evening by beating Stade Français 40-10 with seven tries.
Two red cards, two defeats by more than 20 points
The round will also be remembered for its sendings-off. Baptiste Pesenti was shown red in Lyon with Pau already 26-5 down, and the Section went on to lose 51-25. Marcos Kremer suffered the same fate in Bayonne, where Clermont lost 46-24.
Both clubs therefore conceded more than 40 points after a sending-off, and the round produced two reds and nine yellows across seven matches.
Racing finally win, Toulon lose narrowly again
At Marcel-Deflandre, Racing 92 scored 20 unanswered second-half points to win 20-10, their first victory since 13 June. Having shipped 112 points across the opening two rounds, they conceded 10.
Toulon are the mirror image. Beaten 29-27 at Castres, they have three defeats by a combined four points, after a 27-26 at Bayonne and a 20-21 against La Rochelle. Since 2005 no club starting 0 from 3 has lost by so little, the next closest being Grenoble in 2018-19 on 13 points. Three losing bonus points leave them 13th.
The end of that match left its mark, with the video assistance failing at the moment a disputed Castres try had to be ruled on.
Vannes alone without a point, and the season’s first drop goal
The promoted side led 13-0 at the Roazhon Park in front of 30,000 people, thanks in part to the first drop goal of the Top 14 season, struck by Anthony Bouthier. They lost 23-29, a point short of a losing bonus, and remain the only club in the championship without a single point.
Montpellier, finally, beat Perpignan 50-13 on a pitch the league had rated a high risk to player safety.
The table after three rounds
| Club | P | W | Diff. | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyon | 3 | 3 | +47 | 14 |
| 2 | Stade Toulousain | 3 | 2 | +39 | 10 |
| 3 | Union Bordeaux-Bègles | 3 | 2 | +53 | 10 |
| 4 | Pau | 3 | 2 | +24 | 9 |
| 5 | Montpellier | 3 | 2 | +43 | 9 |
| 6 | Bayonne | 3 | 2 | -19 | 9 |
| 7 | Castres | 3 | 2 | -3 | 8 |
| 8 | La Rochelle | 3 | 2 | -6 | 8 |
| 9 | Clermont | 3 | 1 | -17 | 5 |
| 10 | Perpignan | 3 | 1 | -25 | 5 |
| 11 | Stade Français | 3 | 1 | -37 | 4 |
| 12 | Racing 92 | 3 | 1 | -66 | 4 |
| 13 | Toulon | 3 | 0 | -4 | 3 |
| 14 | Vannes | 3 | 0 | -29 | 0 |
Key figures
14/15 points taken by Lyon, clear at the top after three rounds
54 tries scored in seven matches, for 397 points in all
2 red cards, each followed by a defeat by more than 20 points
4 points separating Toulon from victory across their three defeats
0 points for Vannes, the only club in the championship on none
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