Thibaut Simon, Media365: published on Saturday June 13, 2026 at 11:55 p.m.
Discover the tops and flops of the meeting between the Section Paloise and Racing 92 during the play-off for the final phases of the Top 14.
The tops
Carbonneau the Ile-de-France express
A try after one minute and ten seconds – the fastest in the history of the Top 14 play-offs – a double in the 53rd minute, Léo Carbonneau showed himself to his advantage on the Hameau lawn. The native of Pau played a bad trick at the Section by being present on his team’s counter-attack in the second act. The scrum half, in all the good shots, also saw his opening half being perfect at the foot.
100% gibert
Present at the start of each half, Racing 92 counted on the excellent footwork of Antoine Gibert. He transformed his team’s tries, but was precise with his left foot. When the Section got back in front on the scoreboard, it was he who put Racing back on track. He first passed two penalties before the break (17-16) before putting the Racingmen ahead by the score (17-19). In total, Gibert finished the match with 18 points.
Auradou a tenté
Hugo Auradou tried everything, but finally lost to the Racing 92 defense. The French winger scored his team’s first try with force to the left of the posts to respond to the thunderous start of the visitors. Auradou continued his efforts, recovering dangerous balls, coming close to a double in the second half. With 14 races with the ball made, the second line was one of the satisfactions on the Pau side.
The flops
The Pau defense in failure
Lost balls, missed tackles and a poorly timed final throw into the lineout, the Section wasted a lot of ammunition in the hope of maintaining its invincibility at home this season. The Béarnais especially missed their start, before being close to giving in at the start of the second half on an attack from Fickou. The reaction was too late for a team which had not lost at Hameau for 420 days.
Three-quarters little exploited
If the forward pack made it possible to score three of the four Pau tries, three-quarters did not have many balls to exploit. Only Théo Attissogbé was present in the air, feigning with his race the defense of Racing on the second try scored by Simmonds, Grégoire Arfeuil and Émilien Gailleton in particular did not have an opportunity.
