Perigourdin vs Massy

The game sat in the balance for 15 minutes as both benches emptied. With a quarter-hour to play, Massy struck back. A chip-and-chase saw Georgian wing Luka Gogoladze give chase, but Perigourdin's Tim Giresse got there first to touch down in-goal for a 22-metre dropout. From the restart, Massy counter-attacked straight through the middle, and replacement hooker Lucas Poisson — on the field barely 15 minutes — burrowed over. Hutley added the extras and Massy led 22-17 with 14 minutes to play.

Perigourdin hammered at the Massy line through a series of penalty-option lineouts and driving mauls. They won one penalty, went back to the corner, and were then penalised at the next lineout themselves. Massy cleared their lines and, with 80 minutes on the clock, Gonzalo Lopez Bontempo stretched the lead to 25-17 with a penalty.

Raffy, with the final play four minutes into stoppage time, bisected the posts from in front to secure the defensive bonus point at 25-20.

Tom Raffy (Perigourdin) — 10 points from two conversions and two penalties, including the last-kick bonus-point lifter. Composed off the tee throughout.

Greg Hutley (Massy) — A try conversion and a first-half penalty; orchestrated territory well in the opening 40.

Nahum Merigan (Perigourdin) — The No. 8's try and the counter-ruck turnover that led to Scholes' intercept made him Perigourdin's most influential forward.

Lucas Poisson (Massy) — Came off the bench to score the match-winning try at 66 minutes. Exactly the impact replacement head coach Benoît Denoyelle needed.

Rory Scholes (Perigourdin) — The intercept try was the moment Perigourdin clawed back into the contest.

Player of the match: Lucas Poisson — his try off the bench flipped the result.

The scoreline — five tries to two — overstates Massy's territorial dominance but understates Perigourdin's resilience. Massy did their damage in two explosive windows (the opening eight minutes and Poisson's 66th-minute strike), while Perigourdin controlled long stretches between them. The defensive bonus point is a fair reflection: Perigourdin were within a score for the final half-hour and had chances to level. Massy's three errors at the scrum in the first half (highlighted in local reports) stopped them pulling further clear, while Perigourdin's own scrum issues and soft maul defence — their usual strength — were decisive weaknesses.

Massy start the 2026-27 Nationale campaign with four points, level with the other round-one winners in the early table. Perigourdin bank a single bonus point — not the start they wanted after a summer of squad turnover, but one that keeps them within touch of the mid-table pack. Next up for Perigourdin is a trip to Chambéry on Friday 28 August (19:30 local), while Massy host Bourgoin-Jallieu the same evening.

Massy were the sharper side in both opening and closing exchanges, and that was enough. Perigourdin showed character to fight back from 12-0 down and take the lead, but their inability to close out the game in the final quarter — coupled with a malfunctioning maul defence — cost them a result their second-half performance arguably merited. The bonus point is a consolation, but the defensive frailties will need urgent attention before the trip to Chambéry.