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A weekend full of mouth-watering fixtures and vital results saw shocks - as Toulouse went down in Bordeaux, spills - as Biarritz dominated Lyon and slaughter - with Stade Francais running riot over Agen.
The Top 14 round also saw Castres solidify 4th spot by beating chasing Montpellier, Toulon disposing of Racing down south, Bayonne overcoming Brive and Clermont pushing Perpignan deep into the relegation mire.
LYON OLYMPIQUE 17-34 BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE
Biarritz gave themselves some breathing space at the bottom of the league as an emphatic win at basement club Lyon elevated them to 11th place - four points clear of the drop-zone.
A Dimitri Yachvili penalty and converted Takudwa Ngwenya try meant the visitors held the initiative going into half-time, but a 35th minute Ricky Januarie five-pointer ensured the scores were level at the break.
BO's two talismen were on duty early in the second period as Imanol Harinordoquy's try was converted by Yachvili; and after ex-Springbok Januarie was sent to the bin for 10 minutes the Basques didn't look back.
A second Yachvili penalty of the day extended the lead still further before Dane Haylett-Petty's try effectively put the game to bed.
Yachvili got over the whitewash himself for the bonus point in the 71st minute, but his night was tarnished somewhat as a yellow card made sure he finished the match on the sidelines.
Brice Salobert's 78th minute score was converted by fellow replacement half-back Lee Thomas, but it was too little too late for Lyon and their fate seems increasingly assured with yet another loss.
BORDEAUX-BEGLES 18-17 STADE TOULOUSAIN
Bordeaux pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the entire Top 14 season on Friday night at Stade Chaban-Delmas with a one-point win over the champions.
It was a tight affair in the first 40 despite Yann David's early yellow for Toulouse.
Lionel Beauxis was on target three times for the visitors, but opposition fly-half Camille Lopez went one better to give the hosts a 12-9 half-time lead.
The kicking duel continued through the second half as Beauxis's boot helped keep Toulouse in touch following Lopez's 5th penalty of the night and a smart drop goal.
Wing Yves Donguy barrelled over the line in the dying stages to set up a tense finale, but Beauxis pushed the extras wide and with them the chance to snatch the game.
STADE FRANCAIS 53-27 SU AGEN
Michael Cheika's Stade leaped into the final play-off place on Saturday after a consummate performance that saw the home side run in seven tries.
Sergio Parisse got the ball rolling in the 13th minute - taking advantage Agen full-back Silvere Tian's sin-binning moments earlier - and following on from penalties for fly-halves Felipe Contepomi and Conrad Barnard.
A further try from flanker David Lyons compounded Agen's woes before Tian returned to play and a penalty, try and conversion from the mercurial Contepomi all but wrapped the tie up by half-time.
The Puma playmaker sealed the bonus point with his second try shortly after the interval but tarnished his day's work after Morgan Turinui's score by receiving a yellow card.
Full-back Tian redeemed himself to a degree with a good try to reduce Agen's arrears to 39-20, but Stade stalwart Julien Arias restored the advantage, with Martin Rodriguez converting the winger's touchdown.
Ex-Waikato man Aled de Malmanche rubbed further salt in SUA wounds with a seventh try with minutes left before replacement back-rower JEan Monribot grabbed the visitors' third score and scant consolation in Le Mans.
RC TOULON 32-20 RACING METRO 92
Toulon are almost assured a play-off position after a convincing victory over fellow money bags Racing at Stade Felix Mayol on Saturday.
Despite getting off to a flying start with a first-minute Jonny Wilkinson penalty, Toulon soon knew they were in for a game as first Henry Chavancy and then Sireli Bobo crossed the whitewash for the travelling Parisians - with both scores converted by full-back Gaetan Germain - to give Racing an encouraging 14-6 lead after 20 minutes.
Wilkinson's accurate goal-kicking maintained Toulon's grasp on Racing coattails and the ever-improving Luke Rooney dabbed down just before the half-hour to level the match.
Wilkinson and Germain battled it out from the tee for the remainder of the period with Racing holding a slender one-point advantage as they headed off to the changing rooms 20-19 up.
But that was as good as it got for the visitors however as Wilkinson's near-perfect goal-kicking and Sebastien Tillous-Bordes' close-range try closed the game out for 3rd-placed Toulon.
CASTRES OLYMPIQUE 27-18 MONTPELLIER HR
Castres pulled clear of Montpellier in 5th with an important win over the inform Langedouc-Roussillon club at Stade Pierre Antoine on Saturday.
Marc Andreu's finish was sandwiched between a trio of place-kicks from Romain Teulet, whilst Gonzalo Amorosino's try brought Montpellier their only points of the half.
The hosts stepped on the accelerator in the second period as Romain Martial got his team's second try whilst Teulet kept the scoreboard ticking over with two further penalties.
Eighth Man Alex Tulou scored a late five-pointer for the visitors - converted by Martin Bustos Moyano - but it was ultimately comfortable for Castres.
AVIRON BAYONNAIS 19-12 CA BRIVE CORREZE
Bayonne are not going to relinquish their Top 14 status easily it seems and this dogged home win over Brive gives the Basques a huge confidence boost heading into the final five rounds of competition.
It was a turgid first half, punctuated with two penalty goals each for Bayonne's Benjamin Boyet and Brive's Mathieu Belie; whilst Guillaume Bernad and Abdellatif Boutaty (Bayonne) and Julien Caminati (Brive) were all given time to cool off in the bin.
Caminati made the hosts' job a while lot simpler in the 45th minute after receiving his second yellow and consequently his marching orders - Boyet pushing Bayonne ahead with the resulting penalty.
Kicking remained the order of the day until the 74th minute when Lionel Mazars' converted try sealed the all-important 'W' for the the Pottokas.
ASM CLERMONT 29-23 USA PERPIGNAN
Clermont made it 40 home league games without defeat whilst piling more pressure on Perpignan at the bottom despite being outscored two tries to one by the hapless Catalans.
The game didn't get off to the most positive start as Lionel Faure and Charles Geli saw yellow for a front-row bust up early on.
With the scores level at 3-3 Clermont wing-forward Alexandre Lapandry crossed the line to give his side the upper hand, while more faultless kicking from David Skrela forged a 14-6 lead in the first quarter.
Wales Grand-Slammer James Hook was equally accurate from the tee to keep USAP in touch and a try from full-back Joffrey Michel gave the visitors encouragement as they trotted off for the break.
Skrela's 5th penalty of the day was off-set by a five-pointer from Adriane Plante in the 42nd minute with Hook's conversion tying up the scores at 20-20.
But despite Perpignan's commendable efforts up front, the boot of Skrela edged Clermont further and further ahead to secure the win and bring Les Jaunards to within a point of table-topping Toulouse.
A late Hook penalty provided USAP with a deserved losing bonus point ahead of next week's crucial encounter with Bayonne at Stade Aime Giral.
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