Montpellier saw off Perpignan 50-13 at home in the Top 14 on Friday evening. The hosts made light of their visitors' reputation, running in tries at will and never looking back once they took control. It was a performance that told you everything about where this club sits in French rugby right now.
And here's the thing about a scoreline like that — it doesn't happen by accident. Montpellier had their way from the opening exchanges, pinning Perpignan back and turning pressure into points. The away side simply couldn't find their feet against a home side playing with purpose and conviction.
To be fair, Perpignan came into this having won one of their first two matches. They had five points, one more than Montpellier's four, and sat sixth rather than eighth. But results in the Top 14 tend to even out over time, and tonight the table went out of the window for the visitors.
We had given Montpellier to win with confidence at eighty-nine percent, and the result confirmed that call. When a side is playing at home and has momentum from their previous victory over Vannes, they tend to take advantage. Perpignan's defeat to Stade Français earlier this season had left them vulnerable, and Montpellier punished them accordingly.
Both clubs now move to three games after this weekend's action. Montpellier sit ninth on seven points, while Perpignan drop to seventh on five. The gap between them is small, but the psychological blow of a fifty-three-point defeat is harder to shake.
What matters for Montpellier is that they showed consistency. They had beaten Vannes 26-12 last week and added this statement performance on top. A side that knows how to win at home is a side that can build something meaningful over the course of a season.
