Handre Pollard emphatically announced himself in the French Top 14 when he contributed 15 points to help Montpellier snatch a 20-20 draw with Stade Français in round 12 of the competition this weekend.
The Springbok flyhalf made his debut for Montpellier the week before when he added 10 points via the boot in a losing cause against Racing.
Pollard stepped up and produced an even better display in his second game to rescue his team from a sure defeat against Stade, who are languishing at the bottom of the log.
Montpellier trailed 14-10 at the break, with Pollard slotting a conversion and a penalty in the first half. Stade would add two more penalties to their tally at the resumption, but the Pollard show kept Montpellier in the game. He kicked another three-pointer before breaching Stade’s defence for a self-converted try to secure the draw.
Handre Pollard catches Stade Francais napping to score his first try for Montpellier. #SaffasAbroad pic.twitter.com/4XEzg7lPku
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) December 28, 2019
Elsewhere, lock Hendrik Roodt bagged two tries as Lyon thrashed Bayonne 52-9 to cement their place second on the log, Racing claimed a commanding 44-20 win over Brive, while Johann Sadie scored, but it was in vain as his Agen side suffered a 40-8 defeat at the hands of La Rochelle.
Bordeaux pipped Pau 27-23 in a riveting clash to consolidate their place at the top of the standings, Castres pair Jody Jenneker and Rory Kockott were both recipients of yellow cards during their 39-22 loss to a 14-man Clermont side, and Eben Etzebeth’s Toulon had to settle for a share of the spoils with Rynhardt Elstadt’s Toulouse with a 13-13 draw.
Photo: Pascal Guyot/AFP
