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The game of the weekend came at Stade Ernest Wallon as a Luke McAlister-inspired Toulouse came from 14 points down to claim an important victory over a gnarly Castres XV.
Racing Metro stayed just ahead of city rivals Stade in the all-important sixth play-off place as both teams won, Clermont shook off Agen at Stade Armandie, Biarritz pulled clear of the red zone as Bayonne plunged further towards it and Perpignan and Toulon played out an exciting tie.
RACING-METRO 92 22-13 BORDEAUX-BEGLES
Racing ground out a hard-fought win in Paris over Bordeaux, with Karim Ghezal's late try proving the clincher in Colombes.
A converted try from former Northampton Saint Bruce Reihana gave the visitors a deserved 7-3 interval lead, but four more Gaetan Germain penalties meant Racing held the advantage on the scoreboard going into the game's final quarter.
Bordeaux's nuisance was proving difficult to shake off however and two penalties from fly-half Camille Lopez regained the lead for Les Damiers with just 9 minutes to go.
But with the clock ticking down, Germain converted his fifth penalty of the night to put the home side back on top and Ghezali's 77th minute try finally put the match to bed, denying Bordeaux what would have been a deserved losing bonus point.
SU AGEN 20-29 ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE
Clermont kept the pressure on Toulouse at the summit of the Top 14 with their ninth consecutive league win over plucky Agen on Saturday.
The opening exchanges were defined by a kicking duel between Conrad Barnard (Agen) and Brock James (Clermont), but Junior Pelesasa's second try in two weeks gave the hosts an 8-6 lead.
A penalty a-piece more for the team's fly-halves kept the scores ticking over, but a yellow card for Number 8 Opeki Fanua - following a dangerous tackle - took the wind out of Agen's sails. A further 3-pointer for Aussie James handed Clermont a slender lead at the break.
Despite a Brent Russell try in the 50th minute SUA remained competitive, but when Benjamin Kayser powered over for Clermont with 15 minutes left the game was up.
BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE 26-11 CA BRIVE CORREZE
Biarritz continued their Top 14 rehabilitation as another Dimitri Yachvili-inspired home win forged a 4-point gap between the Basque club and the drop zone.
They didn't have it all their own way at Parc des Sports d'Aguila though as Brive made a mess of the set-piece and break-down to prevent their hosts from gaining any momentum. As such a scrappy first-half ended with Biarritz 9-6 to the good - Yachvili providing the points from the tee, Julien Caminati keeping Brive in touch with two penalties of his own.
A minute into the second half and with Brive's Jacques Boussuge still in the bin for a first-half infringement BOPB stretched ahead through Dane Haylett-Petty's converted try.
Yachvili's fourth successful penalty made the score 19-6 and, minutes after Brive suffered their second yellow of the day - with prop David Khinchagashvili trudging off - they had used their advantage in the pack to force over a penalty try.
Visiting outside-half Scott Spedding went over with ten minutes left, but it was not enough and Biarritz's resurgence goes on, whilst the Limousin club stay 10th with the Basques now breathing down their necks.
MONTPELLIER HRC 37-26 AVIRON BAYONNAIS
Montpellier hit the ground running early against Bayonne and they never really looked back to record an encouraging win at Stade Yves du Manoir on Saturday.
Timoci Nagusa got the ball rolling in the 2nd minute with a well-worked try, converted by Martin Bustos Moyano. The Argentine utility back also contributed three penalties in a lively first period with fly-half Santiago Fernandez helping to build the score with a drop goal.
Half-backs Benjamin Boyet and Cedric Garcia shared three penalties for Bayonne to keep the visitors within touching distance; 19-9 at half-time.
Remy Martin crossed the whitewash before the hour to give Montpellier a commanding lead, but rapid 5-pointers from Boyet and full-back Yoann Huget saw Bayonne claw it back to within a single score.
However a late 2nd Nagusa try calmed home nerves and killed the tie.
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USA PERPIGNAN 22-22 RC TOULON
The weekend's late fixture ended in a draw that suited nobody in particular as Perpignan remain very much in the relegation mix and Toulon drop further off the pace set by the league's top two.
The boot of Matt Giteau edged the visitors 9-6 ahead in the opening exchanges; Jerome Porical replying in kind for the Catalans.
Following a stint in the bin, Toulon scrum-half Sebastien Tillous-Bordes rejoined the action to claim the game's first try on the stroke of half-time with Giteau's conversion making it 16-6 at the interval.
After some more faultless goal-kicking by both sides, Rudi Coetzee broke free to touch down and level the match heading into the closing stages.
Giteau thought he had won it late on for the big-spenders with his fifth penalty of the night in the 76th minute, but replacement David Mele - just on in place of Kevin Boulogne - held his nerve from the tee to earn his team two points at a relieved Stade Aime Giral.
STADE FRANCAIS PARIS 40-19 LYON OLYMPIQUE
Stade kept the pressure on the top 6 with a handsome five-try win over basement club Lyon at Stade Charlety on Saturday.
Lyon were plagued by injuries and a yellow card for centre Vinaya Wakanivuga in a hapless first half that saw the boot of Felipe Contepomi and tries from Djibril Camara and Paul Sackey put the hosts in control.
A 10-point salvo - through a Remy Grosso try and penalty and conversion from Mr. Reliable, Romain Loursac - brought Lyon briefly back into contention; but following this scare Stade's defence remained resolute for one of the first times all season.
Camara completed his brace to compliment Contepomi's accurate boot and Martin Rodriguez Gurruchage's last-minute try put a gloss on the score and pushed Lyon closer to the drop.
STADE TOULOUSAIN 34-27 CASTRES OLYMPIQUE
Toulouse put their disaster at Clermont last week behind them to dispose of Castres in an entertaining come-back victory.
Castres scored their first try in two months in the 5th minute as Karena Wihongi exploited an uncertain Toulouse defence after Romain Teulet's penalty effort had rebounded off the upright to flop over.
The away side's luck was in and, like London buses, their second 5-pointer had come along within minutes as winger Romain Martial intercepted in his own half and raced away for a 14-0 lead.
Toulouse consolidated with a Luke McAlister penalty and Yves Donguy's touchdown on the half-time whistle brought the hosts back within a score.
The French aristocrats made the most of Chris Masoe's sin-binning to edge ahead early in the second period as tight-head Cencus Johnston crashed over, however it was short-lived as Castres openside Yannick Caballero reacted quickest at a scrum to dive over.
Two Pierre Bernard penalties improved the courageous visitors' position and with the last ten minutes fast approaching it seemed an upset might be on the cards with the score reading 17-27.
But a bullocking run from Florian Fritz saw the centre break free and dot down to ignite the Toulouse fightback and McAlister first converted a penalty before turning provider with a deft cross-field kick that found reserve front-rower Gillian Gallan to barge over for a dramatic bonus point win.
