Antoine Dupont and Melvyn Jaminet helped Toulouse to a historic victory over Clermont as domestic rugby brought in the New Year.
La Rochelle ended 2022 on a high and in third place in the Top 14 while there was late drama galore in the United Rugby Championship.
Dominant victories were to be found in the English Premiership with Northampton Saints’ England stars showing their mettle against Harlequins.
Toulouse make history with strong showing
A fine all-round performance helped Toulouse to their first win at Stade Marcel Michelin in over 20 years, with a bonus-point 32-13 victory over Clermont.
🤩 Commentez-nous cette 1ère photo de victoire de 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 💬
______ ❤️🖤#ASMST pic.twitter.com/UWeujTA8cG
— Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) January 2, 2023
Grand Slam-winning full-back Jaminet scored the third of the away side’s tries five minutes after the restart, also kicking three conversions.
Guinness Six Nations 2022: Best of Social
Dupont played at fly-half with Romain Ntamack missing out for the league leaders while Julien Marchand led the front row and restricted Clermont to a consolation try in the 68th minute.
Teddy Thomas put his name back into the conversation of international selection with two tries for La Rochelle in their 29-10 win over Perpignan.
Thomas scored twice in the first half to secure the bonus point for Ronan O’Gara’s side and Perpignan did well to keep the score down aving seen Mathieu Acebes sent off on the stroke of half-time.
Late wins the order of service in the URC
Glasgow Warriors retained the 1872 Cup after beating Edinburgh 32-25 to enter the new year sixth in the United Rugby Championship.
There was plenty of international talent on show as Jamie Ritchie crossed for Edinburgh with Matt Fagerson responding for the visitors.
What an end to 2022! Thank you to everyone who made it possible! #WhateverItTakes ⚔️🛡 pic.twitter.com/y4AWyT4mHl
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) December 31, 2022
George Horne had the final say, scoring 13 points after coming on as a replacement.
Meanwhile Jack Crowley’s masterful line-break led to an injury-time try from Ben Healy and handed Munster a last-gasp victory over Ulster.
Ulster had taken a 9-0 lead into half-time but Healy’s penalty reduced the deficit before he crossed for the winning try having been brilliantly set up by former Ireland U20s star Crowley.
Wales captain Justin Tipuric was named player of the match as Ospreys secured a late 22-19 win over Cardiff thanks to an Owen Williams penalty.
Winger Josh Adams had levelled for the home side in front of a sold-out Cardiff Arms Park after tries from Sam Parry and Dewi Lake put Ospreys in touching distance of victory.
This was all of us during those last few minutes 😂
🔵 Cardiff 19-22 Ospreys ⚫
🏉 #OurJourneyTogether | #BKTURC | #CARvOSP https://t.co/k67XHmPe8P pic.twitter.com/Dej7dr7Y68
— Ospreys (@ospreys) January 1, 2023
Williams held his nerve to put Ospreys ahead once again before Jarrod Evans missed a kick of his own which denied Cardiff the draw and saw Ospreys claim only their third victory of the league campaign.
Saints fire to defeat Quins
In the Premiership, Sale Sharks were dominant in a 40-5 win over defending champions Leicester Tigers before Northampton Saints dispatched Harlequins on New Year’s Day.
England’s Tommy Freeman combined well with James Ramm for the latter’s second score of the game to move the contest out of sight of Quins who missed the chance to close the gap on Sale Sharks in second.
Slicker than your average 💦
The handling in the build-up to @GeorgeFurbank‘s try this afternoon 🤤 pic.twitter.com/NzdHB0QXQI
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) January 1, 2023
George Furbank also got himself on the scoresheet with a try in the 68th minute and 12 points from the tee as Northampton Saints soared to fifth in the table.
Owen Farrell controlled play as his Saracens side cemented their place at the summit of the Premiership table, setting up two tries including Sean Maitland’s second in a 35-3 victory over Exeter Chiefs.