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| - France winger Teddy Thomas scored a crucial late try as he made his Racing 92 return to clinch a 17-12 win at Bordeaux-Begles in the French Top 14. Thomas, 27, featured on the maximum of three team sheets for France during the ongoing Autumn Nations Cup, crossing in last weekend's win over Italy. "Honestly when you have Teddy (Thomas) beside you, you just have to give him the ball and he does the rest," scrum-half Teddy Iribaren, who set up the try, told Canal+. "It was a difficult game, against a good team in unique conditions. We lifted our play at the end." Thomas was joined by fellow Test players Virimi Vakatawa and Camille Chat in the Parisians' matchday squad but they were without prop Hassane Kolingar who will start against England in Sunday's final. Christophe Urios' hosts made seven changes from last weekend's last-minute win at Montpellier as Tonga prop Ben Tameifuna started against his former side. Benjamin Botica for the home side and the visitors' Maxime Machenaud kicked four penalties each by the hour mark to take the score to 12-12 in heavy rain at Stade Chaban-Delmas. Machenaud's replacement Iribaren then lit up the game with five minutes to play. He played a tidy chip kick for Thomas, who claimed his first club try of the season en route to a victory that sent Racing up to second in the Top 14 ahead of hosting Connacht in the European Champions Cup next Sunday. Bordeaux-Begles head to Northampton Saints in the same competition on Friday. Later, South Africa's Rugby World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe makes his first start since October 17 in Toulouse's trip to Bayonne. Leaders La Rochelle head to Lyon who are missing club captain Baptise Couilloud, who leads France for a first time at Twickenham later on the weekend. On Sunday, two of Christophe Dominci's former clubs, Stade Francais and Toulon, play for a trophy named after the ex-France winger, who was found dead in a park near Paris on November 24. On Friday, Handre Pollard's 18-year-old substitute Louis Foursans guided Montpellier to a 21-15 win at Clermont with seven penalty goals. Kolbe's fellow World Cup winner Pollard has been sidelined by a serious knee injury since September and is expected to be out until April. iwd/lp
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