Pau
Bayonne
J. Montoya (4'), T. Attissogbe (15', 56', 56'), E. Gailleton (21', 21'), R. Marta (29', 29', 65', 65'), J. Maddocks (32', 32'), H. Auradou (53', 53', 75', 75'), B. Gorgadze (63', 63')
Tries
M. Tambwe (12'), T. Spring (40+4', 44'), B. Tilloles (68', 68'), G. Martocq (78', 78')
J. Simmonds (5', 22', 30', 33', 15', 22', 30', 33', 54', 54', 57', 57', 64', 64', 65', 65', 76', 76')
Conversions
du Preez (13', 45', 45', 69', 69', 78', 78')
There wasn’t a 175-point Top 14 match in Pau. The reported 126–49 is what it looks like when an events feed duplicates entries and the headline score follows it off the cliff. None of the usual outlets logged a record-shattering shootout, and even the competition data elsewhere on the same feed shows a different final and a normal-looking scoring pattern. Treat 126–49 as an ingest glitch, not a miracle of finishing.
What was real, and backed up by both the standings and the player totals, was a heavy home win for Pau — far closer to 70–28 — shaped by an early red card and ruthless conversion of red-zone visits. The derby told us less about chaos and more about control: Pau didn’t need much ball to break a game that Bayonne could no longer manage after two minutes with 14.
The day turned almost immediately with the dismissal of full-back Yohan Orabe. From there Pau played the fixture that scenario demands: low-error, set-piece tidy, and direct enough to fix defenders before hitting the edges. The scoring ledger lines up with that picture. Julian Montoya finished early, Emilien Gailleton and Jack Maddocks struck off front-foot ball, and both wings — Théo Attissogbé and Rodrigo Marta — bagged braces off clean line breaks. In the tight, Hugo Auradou picked smart lines for two of his own and Beka Gorgadze came on to hammer a tired fringe. Ten tries, ten conversions. That tells you all you need about Pau’s clarity in the 22 and Joe Simmonds’s range from the tee.
The oddity is in the underlying numbers: Bayonne actually had most of the ball. That isn’t as contradictory as it sounds. Pau’s set piece was secure enough to feed their strike plays (3/3 scrums, 11/13 lineouts), they kicked accurately for territory, and when Bayonne spilled or overplayed, Pau punished. Bayonne coughed up 11 turnovers and conceded the only red of the match; Pau conceded more penalties and a yellow but defended efficiently in structure, making 119 tackles without hemorrhaging line breaks. You don’t need 60% possession when your strike rate is that clinical and your 10 is 100% off the tee.
Match Stats
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
RED CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
For Bayonne, there were flashes that would have mattered at 15-on-15. Madosh Tambwe punched through early, Tom Spring showed he can threaten off kick return, and Baptiste Tilloles still found a score in a week where their depth at 9 was already a worry. But being a man down that long against a side that’s happy to play for the corners is a slow bleed. With exits misfiring and contact accuracy loose, so much of their possession came in the wrong areas and under the wrong pressure. They chased it, they forced it, and Pau kept cashing the gifts.
This wasn’t close after the break because Pau never let it be. Simmonds kept the tempo sensible, didn’t overplay in his own half, and turned penalties into platforms rather than shots at goal — a nod to the mismatch in space out wide. Attissogbé’s angles on kick chase were sharp all afternoon; Marta’s finishing continues to be ruthless when defenders are fixed inside; Auradou’s engine showed in both 22s. Those are repeatable trends, not noise from a glitchy scoreboard.
There are still work-ons for the winners. Discipline drifted — 12 penalties and a yellow from Santiago Grondona is quite a tax when you’re already facing a team with 68% of the ball — and you won’t bank on a 10/10 day from the tee every week. The tackle load was heavy for Round 2, which speaks to long spells without the ball even against 14. Better sides will make you pay if you invite that much phase play in your own half.
Bayonne won’t take much from the margin — because the outlandish one isn’t real and the real one was warped by the card — but the lesson is clear enough. You can’t survive a derby down a backfield organiser for 78 minutes and then give up 11 turnovers on top. The shape broke early, the scramble held only so long, and when their bench came on the game state was already gone. Clean up the exits, get a 9–10–15 spine on the park that can manage territory, and the Round 1 edge they showed should reappear.
So file 126–49 under “software”, not “history”. The rugby that actually happened says Pau look like a sharper, more ruthless version of last year’s side — Montpellier away then Bayonne at home is a tidy start — and that Bayonne can’t evaluate much until their discipline and decision-making returns to 15-man logic. That’s the real takeaway, glitch or no glitch.