Two-try hooker Loubery leads the way as Vannes pick up their first bonus-point win of the season

Vannes 23 Saint-Medard 15: Vannes took full advantage of their game in hand by earning their first offensive bonus point of the season in this rearranged visit of Saint-Medard. By taking all five points the Bretons consolidated their second place in Pool 3 of Federale 1, with only Lavaur - who have their own game in hand - within one win of our Fed1 favourites.

But this was no romp for les Vannetais, who claimed the extra point in first-half injury time after trailing for all but two minutes of the first period. As we predicted, les Poudriers' biggest threat came from the boot of Jean-Baptiste Dion, and the full back took less than a minute to get off the mark with his first successful penalty, adding another five minutes later to make it 6-0 to the visitors.

Thomas Lebarillier finally got Vannes off the mark on 13 minutes, but the six-point cushion was restored on 18 minutes when Dion added his third penalty of the afternoon.

That was the key for Vannes to come to life, hooker Regis Loubery scoring his second try in two weeks when lock Adrien Le Roy flung a quick line-out ball for the Vannes veteran to score his 10th try for the club in the corner.

A missed conversion left Vannes trailing by a point, and it remained 8-9 until two minutes from half time, when Loubery took advantage of the absence of sin-binned visiting winger Karim Abbad to peel off the blindside of a maul and score in the corner for a 13-9 lead.

The bonus-point try came just three minutes later, Loubery settling for a supporting role this time as he followed up good work by full back Steeve Sargos and bullocking prop Carlos Muzzio to slip the try-scoring pass to flanker Jorge Gonzalez. Lebarillier did convert this one, completing the turnaround and sending the Bretons in with a 20-9 half-time lead.

The game was effectively up, but although the second half was marked by powerful attacks by the back line of Ivorian Sargos, Jeremy Malzieu, Kevin Burgaud and Mauricio Gimenez, some over-eager whistling and bizarre decisions from referee Monsieur Robic prevented Vannes from crossing the tryline again. Saint-Medard only ever threatened with the boot, Dion even threatening to take home a bonus point with two second-half penalties before Lebarillier put Vannes beyond the seven-point mark with a 40-metre penalty after 68 minutes.

"It was the big moments before half-time that delivered the knockout blow," said Saint-Medard coach Vincent Charlot. "Vannes increased the intensity and the physicality of the game and we paid dearly. They deserved the win but our efforts merited a bonus point."

Vannes coach Esteban Devich couldn't have agreed less. "It looks like we won narrowly, but we dominated this encounter in every department, although Saint-Medard never gave in. We thought at the time that we could really crush them, but because of the refereeing we weren't able to make the breakthrough after half time."

Second string: Vannes B 25 Saint-Medard B 17. Vannes sit fifth in their Federale 1B pool, though we're not sure what this means.

Also in Pool 3: The game in hand was the only Pool 3 match of the week

Next up: Vannes vs Langon, Sunday February 5, Stade Jo-Courtel, Vannes.

Vannes have a golden opportunity to put one foot in the play-offs when fifth-placed Langon come to town this weekend. Les Langonnais - who will be hugging France's west coast as they travel the 500km from the Gironde - sit outside the play-offs on points difference from St Jean de Luz and six points behind our Federale 1 favourites. A home win could make that a 10- or 11-point margin for the Bretons, putting them two results clear of fifth as the season enters its final weeks.

With a little more consistency, Langon could be up there with les Vannetais, but home defeats to lowly Saint-Medard and Saint-Junien have cancelled out the 12 points they've picked up from their five away trips.

The teams' week 3 meeting ended in a 15-6 kicking-contest victory for Langon, a result that has proved to be typical of Langon's season - they've only managed to score seven tries in their 11 league games to date. Outside-half Julien Lavie is enjoying his most fruitful season to date, the former Bordeaux-Begles player sitting just shy of 150 points with a tally that includes 40 penalties and two touchdowns that make him the team's top try scorer.

Its proximity to Bordeaux means that Langon has picked up other former Bordeaux-Begles players, notably flanker Julien Hubert and hooker Nicolas Dospital. The latter is facing fierce competition from veteran Philippe Etchegaray, who enjoyed two years in the Top 16 with Pau before arriving in Langon in 2007 via Racing Metro. Scrum-half Nicolas Cabannes also arrived the hard way, chalking up top-flight seasons with Mont-de-Marsan and Pau before lower-division experience at La Rochelle, La Seyne and Saint-Medard.

Of course, the town is used to seeing its best players heading the other way - international winger Benjamin Fall hailed from Langon before moving on to Bordeaux-Begles, Bayonne and Racing-Metro, and former Bouclier winner and French fly-half Christian 'Coco' Delage began his playing career at Langon before bringing championship glory to the Begles club in 1991 and then returning to Langon to work as a teacher; his son Sebastien is the club's regular full back.

The news Fed-lines: This was a catch-up week for seven matches cancelled during the severe rainstorms back in December, but some, like Vannes' victory, may have an influence on the play-off line-ups in April. In Pool 1, Nevers held their nerver at Bobigny to leapfrog their opponents into fourth place with a 26-20 victory. Although the wealthy visitors led 16-0 at half time, their Parisian hosts pegged them back with tries by winger Florian Chazarein and Moroccan flanker Mohamed Loukrasi. Alexandre Pichot's conversions gave Bobigny a one-point lead going into the last five minutes, but a late try by Nicolas Carmona, converted by Frederic Pujo, saw Nevers take the four points.

In the same pool Macon (sixth) pulled off an unlikely 26-25 win at third-placed Montlucon, and only two points now separate third from sixth in this tight pool.

La Seyne-sur-Mer picked up a bonus point in their 33-3 win over Saint-Etienne to leapfrog les Stephanois into the last play-off place, while in Pool 4 Marmande did their hopes of staying up no harm with a 26-24 victory over Lourdes, and third-placed Valence d'Agen kept in touch with the leaders courtesy of a 79th minute try by Georgian lock Giorgi Nemsadze that sealed their 16-11 win at Mauleon.

You can find all the latest Federale 1 results at ItsRugby.fr

Fédérale 1 Pool 3 table: