Gazeta Lodz - Toulouse crush Toulon to reach Top 14 semis as Castres pay tribute to Raisuqe

Some 2,000 people gathered at the Stade Pierre-Fabre in Castres to pay their respects to Raisuqe after the Fijian Olympic silver medallist died Thursday when his car was hit by a train.

A minute's applause will be held at all Top 14 and second-tier matches this weekend.

"We will all remember his spectacular plays, his flashes of genius," said Castres president Pierre-Yves Revol, speaking fondly of a player who was "always smiling".

Players, members of the coaching staff and other club officials joined supporters at the entrance to the stadium, with large screens and Fijian flags set up as part of a ceremony in memory of the 30-year-old winger.

Raisuqe was on his way to training earlier this week when the train collided with his car on a level crossing.

"Castres will be there in every way possible to make the days to come a little less heavy, a little less painful," added Revol, after a tearful address from Raisuqe's partner, Ilona.

Saturday's game between Castres, who are fifth in the table, and Clermont was postponed and rescheduled for the weekend of May 24-25.

Top 14 leaders Toulouse ensured their place in the semi-finals and moved 15 points ahead of Bordeaux-Begles, who play in Montpellier on Sunday, with an emphatic win over Toulon.

Toulon, reduced to 14 men throughout the second half, suffered their third defeat in their last four matches in all competitions and remain stuck in third place.

Ugo Mola's Toulouse, looking to redeem themselves from their Champions Cup semi-final defeat, took an early lead with a penalty try.

Mathis Castro-Ferreira doubled the lead with a 14th minute try before fly-half Romain Ntamack left the pitch with concussion and was replaced by Paul Graou.

Santiago Chocobares, Naoto Saito, Paul Costes, Matthis Lebel, Pierre-Louis Barassi and Graou also touched down for Toulouse.

- Hastoy lifts La Rochelle -

Earlier, La Rochelle fly-half Antoine Hastoy's late drop goal snatched a precious 30-29 win over Vannes to stay in the race to qualify for the Top 14 final phase.

After the postponement of the Castres match, La Rochelle moved into sixth place, the last qualifying spot for the play-offs, thanks to their bonus-point victory.

The western port side came close to defeat against bottom outfit Vannes, who had come back from 12-0 down and thought they had a crucial victory for survival when prop Thomas Moukoro's try put his team 29-27 in front after 77 minutes.

But they were crushed by Hastoy's masterful drop goal in the 80th minute, scored some 40 metres from the posts to give his team a third consecutive win.

Also a contender for the play-offs, Lyon took a risky gamble by resting most of their senior players after winning their Challenge Cup semi-final against Racing.

But Karim Ghezal's decision failed to pay off, as his seventh-placed side suffered a narrow 29-27 defeat against a determined Pau who won thanks to Thibault Daubagna's 76th-minute penalty.

Pau are ninth, four points behind La Rochelle.

Bayonne, meanwhile, consolidated their fourth place with a 24-24 draw against a tough but uninspired Racing 92 team, who are in 11th position.

In a close, nerve-racking match, Perpignan defeated Stade Francais 20-18, giving themselves a bit of breathing room in the relegation race by climbing one place to 12th -- the spot previously occupied by the capital side.

Despite two long-range misses, Tommaso Allan scored the decisive penalty with five minutes remaining.

Stade Francais are now in more danger than ever -- 13th and in the relegation zone, just one point ahead of Vannes.

L.Zielinski--GL