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Argentine winger Juan Imhoff scored three tries today for Racing 92. In a rematch of the 2016 Top 14 Final the Parisians ran-out 41-30 winners in the fail match of Week 5. Racing 92 won the match by scoring six tries, half of them were scored by the Rosario flier.
The win sees Racing 92 rise up the standings to occupy 6th position. As such the club is now in the barrage zone. For Toulon the loss sees the club falling to 8th to sit three competition points outside of the barrage zone.
Next weekend both teams will have opportunities to rise. Racing 92 will play away to Castres while Toulon will be at home against Clermont. Castles have started their campaign inconsistently which should enable Racing 92 to win on the road. At home Toulon are formidable for all.
For Racing 92 to win away to Castres they will require more enterprising play. Against Toulon today such an approach saw the 2016 Top 14 winners delivering. Of note is that all three of Imhoff’s tries were different.
His first try came in the 16th minute. It was a try to showcase the pace of the Argentine. From a simple pass he ran past three defenders to score. Attempted tackles from Aidan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Guilhem Guirado were all unsuccessful.
It was followed six minutes later. Following a rolling maul the ball was spun to the backs. Racing 92 kept the ball alive and it found its way to an unmarked Imhoff who dived over untouched in the righthand corner.
Imhoff’s hat-trick was completed in the second half. His first two tries had also been Racing 92’s first and second. His third try was his team’s sixth and final score of the match. It came from a wayward clearance which Racing 92 punished. Quick phases and off-loading proved to be a potent combination and Imhoff again got past Halfpenny to score.
