Toulouse extended their lead at the top of the Top 14 table with victory over Agen as Clermont were held in Bayonne. At the bottom of the table, Perpignan recorded a second win in 13 games to ease their relegation fears, whilst their beaten opponents Biarritz sink deeper into trouble.
Friday
Perpignan 25 “ 6 Biarritz
Scrum-half Kevin Boulogne scored 22 of his side's points as Perpignan emerged victorious in the relegation battle between two French giants.
Even the inclusion of powerhouse number 8 Imanol Harinordoquy was not enough to prevent Biarritz falling to a third defeat in a row in a game they never looked like winning despite going in at the break just three points behind the hosts.
After Boulogne and Biarritz youngster Jean-Pascal Barraque exchanged penalties in the opening period, Perpignan controlled the second half through a further penalty from Boulogne, and a drop goal from Gavin Hume.
The match was secured in a five minute period on the hour with Boulogne wrapping up an impressive individual performance with a brace of tries.
Victory for Perpignan makes it three games undefeated at home, and their home form could be what helps the 2009 champions survive the drop in spite of their dreadful run of results. Biarritz will have to pin their hopes on Dimitri Yachvili returning from the Six Nations injury free; without the France international, their fate could already be sealed.
Saturday
Toulouse 21 “ 10 Agen
Leaders Toulouse were pushed all the way by a spirited Agen side as they extended their unbeaten run to eleven games.
Lionel Beauxis returned from the France squad to kick 11 points while wing Yves Donguy touched down either side of half-time for the hosts.
Agen twice led early on, first through Maxime Machenaud's penalty, and then when Junior Pelesasa crossed after 12 minutes, and the game was finely poised at half-time at 13-10, but they were to be the visitor's only points of the game.
Agen have now won just one of their last six, and their early form that saw them play-off hopefuls must seem a long way away now. Sixth place still remains a possibility, but they need to take advantage of other side's loss of international players if they are to breach the top six by the end of the season.
Bayonne 22 “ 22 Clermont Auvergne
Clermont lost ground to Toulouse on Saturday as they were denied victory at the Stade Jean-Dauger by a last minute seven-pointer from struggling Bayonne.
Clermont started in their usual bright fashion, with David Skrella touching down in the 11th minute. Cedric Garcia kicked three penalties for the hosts, but Skrella cancelled each one out for Clermont and a Jacques-Louise Potgieter drop-goal kept the gap at four points at half time.
Replacement kickers Cedric Heymans and Brock James exchanged penalties in the second period before Anthony Floch gave Clermont a little breathing space with a 74th minute drop-goal.
But in a dramatic finish, Bayonne snatched a draw thanks to South African centre Sam Gerber's penalty and Benjamin Boyet's resulting conversion. Boyet's kick sealed the extra point for Bayonne, as well as becoming the eighth different player to kick a goal in the match.
Clermont remain comfortable in second, but lose out further to Toulouse at the top of the table. Two points for Bayonne, and defeat for the two sides below them, lifts them away from the red-zone, but they will need to find more performances of this calibre to ensure they stay up this season.
Stade Français 19 “ 19 Toulon
Two play-off contenders fought out a fiery, electrifying encounter at the Stade de France as Stade Français and Toulon could not be separated.
While brother Delon works his way out of the England squad thanks to his off the field antics, Steffon Armitage must be gaining the attentions of Stuart Lancaster with his performances in France as the former London Irish flanker put in a thrilling performance, including the try that saved the game for Toulon.
After fellow Englishman Johnny Wilkinson left the field with a knee injury after 25 minutes, Stade appeared to be in control of the match through four Julien Dupuy penalties and a Pascal Pape try.
With Wilkinson gone, Toulon struggled to replace him with both Matt Giteau and Benjamin Lapeyre having mixed results with the boot.
Stade failed to see the game off, and after some intense pressure on the Stade line, Armitage scored in the corner to leave Toulon two points behind with a tricky conversion remaining. After missing one from in front of the posts in the first-half, the 92-capped Australian Giteau calmly slotted over the conversion from the narrowest of angles to secure a well-deserved draw for Toulon.
Lyon 22 “ 33 Racing Metro
Racing secured a first win in five games against the bottom side Lyon to reduce the gap to neighbours Stade to a single point.
The visitors dominated the first half with a trio of penalties from Juan Martin Hernandez and tries from Sireli Bobo and Jacques Cronje, with Lyon's Regis Lespinas kicking his side's only points of the first half to leave the scores at 18-3.
Both sides were reduced to 14 early in the second period, and Ricky Januarie gave Lyon hope with a 49th minute try, but a Hernandez try re-established Racing's 15 points lead minutes later.
A second yellow for Racing caused the Parisians to momentarily lose control of the game: a quick-fire pair of tries from Vinaya Wakanivuga and Franck Romanet reduced the gap to a single point, before a second try for former Fijian international Bobo settled the match, and cost Lyon a vital losing bonus-point.
The play-offs are very much back on the cards for Racing, whilst Lyon remain bottom of the table, and in dire trouble.
Brive 13 “ 15 Castres
Brive failed to ease their relegation fears as they fell to their 12th defeat of the season against Castres, who remain well placed for a play-off spot, sitting in fourth place.
A low scoring first half saw Castres see more yellow cards than successful scores. The hosts scored the only try of the first period through Poutasi Luafutu, but couldn't take any more advantage of spending the best part of 20 minutes with a man advantage.
Castres kicked their way back into the game in the second half through penalties from Romain Teulet and Pierre Bernard, as well as two Bernard drop-goals.
Brive took until the final minute of the game to add further points to their total, even with Castres losing a third player to the sin-bin. Olivier Caisso's try gave Brive the small consolation of their ninth losing bonus-point of the season, but another disappointing result for the home side leaves them deep in the relegation battle.
Bordeaux-Bègles 26 “ 30 Montpellier
Bordeaux fell to a second home defeat in three games as Montpellier continued their irrepressible run with a narrow victory on Saturday.
Montpellier led 13-10 at the break after tries from Blair Connor for Bordeaux and Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino for Montpellier, and Camille Lopez and Benoit Paillaugue trading blows with the boot.
Timoci Nagusa extended Montpellier's lead 10 minutes into the second half, before penalties from Lopez and a second try for Australian Connor gave Bordeaux the lead.
Bordeaux were to be denied however, when flanker Alex Tulou went over to give Montpellier a late victory to make it eight in their last nine games.
Bordeaux's good home form earlier in the season should mean they are safe from the drop, whilst Montpellier's relentless charge on the play-offs continue, and last year's finalists look set to be one of the six sides in the knock-out stages come the end of the season.
