Grandidier-Nkanang double takes Pau to Top 14 summit despite Vannes fightback / Photo: Fred TANNEAU - AFP
Grandidier-Nkanang double takes Pau to Top 14 summit despite Vannes fightback
France winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang scored twice as Pau held off a second-half comeback from new boys Vannes to win 43-40 and move to the summit of the French Top 14.
London-born Grandidier-Nkanang, who won Olympic rugby sevens gold at the 2024 Paris Games, crossed twice in a dominant opening 40 minutes for the visitors who led 40-14 at the break.
Vannes hit back with four second-half tries but remain winless in the five games since their return to the top-flight.
Pau scored six first-half tries as 26-year-old Grandidier-Nkanang boosted his claim for a place in France's squad for next month's Nations Championship squad.
Young fly-half Axel Desperes scored 20 points in the first half, including a double of his own.
Pau collapsed after the interval however. The home side claimed their first bonus point of the season thanks to winger Paul Surano's 75th-minute touchdown but remain bottom.
Earlier, France back-rower Cameron Woki also crossed on two occasions as Bordeaux-Begles hammered Lyon 51-28.
Woki made his contributions either side of the half to send the Champions Cup holders to fourth in the table.
Lyon failed with a second-half comeback and sit a spot lower in the standings.
"It's maybe the regret we have from the second-half, conceding tries too easily, it's disconcerting," Bordeaux-Begles scrum-half Maxime Lucu told reporters.
"In the future we have to manage the final 25-30 minutes because there will be matches decided by five or six points," he added.
Elsewhere, veteran Argentina fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta became French club rugby's leading scorer since a single first division was created in 2001 in Perpignan's heavy 55-25 loss at Racing 92.
The 40-year-old slotted a conversion and two penalties to take his tally to 2,619 points, ahead of ex-Castres full-back Romain Teulet's 2,612.
Former France fly-half Richard Dourthe, who started his career under the old top-flight format, holds the overall record of 3,015 points.
Samoa back-rower Theo McFarland impressed as La Rochelle hammered Clermont 38-13 while Bayonne edged Stade Francais 35-30 to go second.
Champions Toulouse field a much-changed side to visit struggling Castres in Saturday's late game, a derby first played in 1921.
I.Lang--FFMTZ
