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P. Surano (20', 27')
Tries
A. Hastings (7'), A. Vincent (43'), T. Banks (65')
M. Lafage (27')
Conversions
S. Hogg (66')
Penalties
A. Hastings (14', 25'), S. Hogg (76')
This was less about catharsis than correction. After a ragged Round 1, Montpellier Hérault Rugby came to a sold-out Rabine and found control: cleaner at set piece, sharper on counter, and decisive straight after halftime. The result reads comfortable because they owned the big moments. It also says their discipline problem hasn’t gone away; they just had enough power and quality to carry it.
For RC Vannes, it was the Top 14 in high definition. They led at the break on the back of a tidy lineout and two finishes from Paul Surano, but the second half exposed the two levers that tend to decide these games: scrum and strike threats. Vannes lost the first and couldn’t live with the second. They didn’t score a point after the interval.
The turn came immediately after the oranges. Arthur Vincent hit the line hard for the go-ahead try and Montpellier never looked back. When Billy Vunipola went to the bin on 50 minutes, that should have been Vannes’ window. Instead they coughed up ball, got marched in the scrum and watched the game swing further away when Tom Banks ran in from deep a quarter of an hour later. That ten-minute non-event with the extra man told you more about the gap than the scoreline.
The numbers back the feel. Montpellier won the clean breaks 6–2 and beat 26 defenders to 15. Vannes had to make 183 tackles and missed 26 of them, a rate that eventually bites when you’re chasing bodies like Banks and Melvyn Rates. At the set piece the home scrum creaked all afternoon (two wins from six) while Montpellier were at 83% and ruthless in the squeeze. Vannes’ lineout was excellent at 91% with Dave Cherry nailing his throws, but it wasn’t enough to offset the scrum tax and the 14 turnovers conceded.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Montpellier’s backfield decided the outcome. Adam Hastings set the tone with a try inside ten minutes and two penalties before the break, and when he checked out on 57 the veteran calm of Stuart Hogg took over the dashboard. Hogg’s boot turned the screw late; Banks did the damage earlier with 89 metres from 12 carries and the decisive third try. That trio kept Vannes pinned between back-field headaches and a tiring defensive line.
Up front, Montpellier looked more like themselves than a week ago. Tyler Duguid carried with intent, Baptiste Erdocio tackled himself sore, and the lineout was tidy enough for Vunipola and Yacouba Camara to keep the gain line contest even. The hooker rotation—Lyam Akrab starting and giving way before the hour—was pragmatic management in a bruised position group, and they got through it without the wobbles that hurt them against Pau. It wasn’t perfect—they still shipped three yellows, including Rates and Erdocio before halftime—but the pack offered a platform their backs exploited.
Vannes did a lot right for 40. Surano’s brace came off accurate phase detail and good shapes to the edge, Anthony Bouthier countered with purpose (75 metres), and Raymond Nu’u gave them the short-range punch they’ll need all season. Ioane Iashagashvili emptied the tank with 23 tackles. But they were too loose when the game asked for control: turnovers at the wrong end of the field, a passive chase that let Montpellier return kicks on their terms, and a scrum that handed momentum away. Santiago Medrano’s four penalties and late yellow summed up the day—pressure building, valve blowing.
Does the margin flatter Montpellier? Not really. They left points out there while under-strength and under sanction; Vannes’ failure to land a punch in that Vunipola bin was the reprieve that turned into separation. If anything, the cards kept it from becoming a canter. Montpellier still have to sort that out. Three yellows away from home will cost them against contenders with a killer maul or a steadier 10.
Context matters, and it helps make sense of this. Montpellier arrived under early heat after the Pau misfire and injuries up front; this was a clean step forward in the two areas that travel—set piece and back-three kick return. Hogg’s bench influence and the comfort of multiple game drivers (Hastings early, Banks throughout) are real assets. The to-do list is clear: stop feeding the referee and clear up the ruck speed when protecting a lead.
For Vannes, the template is here. The lineout is a weapon, the work rate is non-negotiable, and they can stress teams wide if they get stable ball. Survival will come down to what happens at tighthead and how efficiently they turn pressure into points. Two first-half tries were a statement; zero second-half points is the lesson. Fix the scrum, keep the ball when the opposition is down a man, and they’ll bank the home wins they need. Otherwise, afternoons like this will keep slipping away at the very moment they’re there to be won.
