Brilliant Nakaitaci leads Clermont to 70th straight home victory

Clermont racked up a 70th straight home win and extended their lead at the top of the French Top 14 with a 33-19 victory over Oyonnax on Sunday. And with their three closest rivals all losing, Clermont opened up a six-point lead at the top of the table.

Fijian-born wing Noa Nakaitaci was the architect in the first half, scoring a brilliant 60-yard individual try before making a second break and teeing up Samoan No. 8 Fritz Lee to go over.

Nakataici’s score was pure genius as he took the ball from the back of a breakdown, looped around the forwards and burst through a gap in Oyonnax’s defensive line before chipping ahead and winning the foot-race to touch down.

However, Clermont were denied a bonus point by a spirited second-half display from the second division champions.

Centre Pierre Aguillon and South African hooker Jody Jenneker both went over either side of France hooker Benjamin Kayser’s try for the hosts but Oyonnax still dropped into the relegation places.

“We’ll take that victory against a very good Oyonnax team,” said Clermont’s New Zealander coach Vern Cotter. “Even without the bonus this win allows us to stay on top. We wanted to do well before the European Cup [begins again in two weeks].”

In the day’s late match, underperforming Racing-Metro received a huge morale-boost with a 14-3 victory over European champions Toulon.