Top 14 talking points: Bayonne’s fortress breached 595 days later
Castres ended Bayonne’s 19-month Top 14 home run, Toulon continued theirs, Perpignan opened up what appears to be a crucial lead over Montauban at the bottom of the table, and Gregory Alldritt proved a point as La Rochelle went down fighting at Clermont.
Bordeaux and Bayonne were both shocked at home as France’s Top 14 returned after the Champions Cup break for the first of a two-week midwinter slog before the league goes on brief hiatus for the start of the 2026 Six Nations.
Bayonne had last lost in the Top 14 at Stade Jean Dauger on June 8, 2024. The visitors on that day were Castres Olympique. Some 19 months later, give or take a fortnight, they did it again to heap the pressure on the Basque side’s manager Gregory Patat.
