THE clash between Carcassonne and Albi, the top two teams of recent years, had none of the close rivalry that might have been anticipated, so dominant were the Canaries and so off-colour this Albi side.

Within the first 20 minutes, Carcassonne went 16-0 ahead, as Albi fullback Robin Brochon twice fumbled high kicks to allow tries from Edenn Rogers-Smith and Vincent Albert.

Worse was to come for the Tigers. Secondrow Paul Séguier tore through the middle with the Albi defence adrift, followed by two more tries, scored by Fijian winger Timoci Bola and then Morgan Escaré from a 70-metre break.

In between, Brochon made up for his earlier errors with a try but nothing could detract from the fact that, at 32-6 at half-time, this was by some distance Albi’s worst 40 minutes of recent seasons.

Things quietened down in the second half, Carcassonne restricting themselves to two more scores for an eight-try 44-6 victory.

These two teams are favourites to meet again in the cup final and on this showing Carcassonne already have their hands on the Lord Derby trophy.

Limoux went top of the table following their 26-14 win at St Estève. They owed their victory to a strong first-half performance as they led 20-4.

Though Catalan winger Nicolas Authier scored the opening try, Limoux, who have not lost a league match since mid-November, took control with tries from half-back Matis Dall’Asta, centre William Partridge and secondrower Benjamin Vergniol.

Zac Santo’s kick for JJ Taulagi to touch down wide out gave a 16-point advantage and the Grizzlies added six more points after the break when Christopher Hellec and Partridge combined for Santo to finish off an 80-metre move, though a plethora of yellow cards resulted in Limoux ending the match with twelve men, Catalan centre Léo Darrelatour capitalising with a late try.

Already figuring among the frontrunners, Avignon picked up three more points at the expense of Toulouse, who put up a gutsy performance before going down 20-16.

Sébastien Raguin’s team clawed their way back from a 14-4 deficit to lead 16-14 in the 72nd minute before Avignon’s capture from Halifax, middle back James Woodburn-Hall, touched down for the winner.

Avignon had taken charge with tries from young winger Isaac Bakayoko, hooker Romain Maris and Théo Fouque off the bench, to which Toulouse halfback Victor Collin and winger Mathieu Pons, recently signed to the Super League team, replied.

Pons went over for his second just before the hour to level the scores but Toulouse were pipped at the post.

Fifth-placed Pia edged out Lézignan, two places below, in a closely-fought 32-26 victory.

The FCL led 14-12 at half-time but Pia came back, with the influential Eloi Pelissier creating three of their tries. 

There was much celebration at St Gaudens, where the home side recorded their first win of the season, beating Villeneuve, who had pulled off a fine win over Pia the week before.

Villeneuve led St Gaudens 12-6 at the break, but the hosts kept their opponents scoreless in the second half while adding eleven points for a 17-12 triumph.  

Results
Avignon 20 Toulouse 16
Carcassonne 44 Albi 6
Pia 32 Lézignan 26
St Estève-XIII Catalan 14 Limoux 26
St Gaudens 17 Villeneuve 12
Bye: Villefranche

Fixtures
Coupe de France: semi-finals
Saturday 7 March
Lézignan v Carcassonne
(at Stade des Minimes, Toulouse)
Sunday 8 March
Albi v Villegailhenc
(at Stade de la Chevalière, Mazamet)

Table
Limoux 32 pts
Carcassonne 31 pts
Albi 30 pts
Avignon 29 pts
Pia 28 pts
St Estève-XIII Catalan 25 pts
Lézignan 22 pts
Toulouse 17 pts
Villeneuve 15 pts
Villefranche 15 pts
St Gaudens 10 pts