Toulon players’ vacation has been cut short following their 23-20 loss at home to La Rochelle, while there were also French Top 14 wins for Grenoble, Pau, Castres and Lyon.

Before the match, club president Mourad Boudjellal fired a stern warning at his players: ‘If we lose against La Rochelle, I can tell you I will start a fire and get rid of everybody. Everything’s possible here.’

On Saturday, La Rochelle converted an injury-time penalty to secure the 23-20 win in front of Toulon’s home crowd at Stade Mayol, which left Boudjellal seething according to head coach Mike Ford.

Boudjellal has since demanded that the club’s players be banned from taking holidays during the upcoming three-week break for the Six Nations.

‘I was almost expecting to lose this game,’ said Boudjellal. ‘Holidays are cancelled, I don’t care about airline tickets or anything like that, it’s their problem.’

Elsewhere in the competition, Gio Aplon’s Grenoble overturned a 12-point deficit to beat Stade Français 44-22; Pau stunned Toulouse 20-10 away from home; scrumhalf Rory Kockott’s try helped Castres beat Montpellier 38-25; and Lyon inflicted a 37-25 defeat on Racing 92.

Results:

Toulon 20 La Rochelle 23
Grenoble 44 Stade Français 22
Pau 20 Toulouse 10
Castres 38 Montpellier 25
Lyon 37 Racing 25

Photo: Getty Images