Top 14 wrap: Perpignan stop Clermont

Late drop for Perpigan: David Mélé

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Also see

• Toulouse battle past Biarritz
• Biarritz and Bayonne to merge?

Perpignan stayed in the race for the Top 14 play-offs thanks to a hard-fought 26-19 win over Clermont on Friday.

The result is only Clermont's fourth loss in all competitions this season and allows Toulon to move seven points clear at the summit of the standings.

But the league leaders didn't have it all their own way on Friday either as they failed to pick up the expected bonus point against lowly Mont-de-Marsan.

In the capital, Stade Français also kept their play-off hopes alive with a big win over Grenoble.

Elsewhere, Montpellier climbed to fourth thanks to their win in Agen while Racing Métro picked up valuable points away from home against Bordeaux-Bègles.

Results:
Bayonne 22-12 Castres - Match report here
Perpignan 26-19 Clermont
Agen 9-13 Montpellier
Bordeaux-Bègles 15-22 Racing Métro
Stade Français 35-6 Grenoble
Toulon 15-9 Mont-de-Marsan
Toulouse 19-14 Biarritz - Match report here

USA Perpignan 26-19 ASM Clermont Auvergne
Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan

A great result for USAP, who produced one of their best performances if the season to keep their play-off ambitions alive.

Clermont led 12-6 at the end of an intense first half thanks to the boot of Morgan Parra, as they dominated possession but couldn't unlock the Catalan defence.

The second half was a different story however and the hosts took the lead in a barnstorming ten minutes after the break highlighted by a try for lock Romain Taofifenua as the USAP pack rumbled over the line.

Clermont regained the lead around the hour mark when Julien Bardy scored at the back of a rolling maul but the visitors' discipline let them done in the final quarter, allowing James Hook, who finished with 18 points, to kick Perpignan to victory.

The scorers:

For Perpignan:
Try: Taofifenua
Pens: Hook 6
Drop: Mélé

For Clermont:
Try: Bardy
Con: Parra
Pens: Parra 4
Yellow card: Sivivatu

Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Farid Sid, 13 David Marty, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Adrien Plante, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Bertrand Guiry, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Sona Taumalolo,
Replacements: 16 Romain Terrain, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Robins Tchale watchou, 19 Daniel Leo, 20 David Mélé, 21 Sione Piukala, 22 Richard Haughton, 23 Kisi Pulu

Clermont: 15 Jean Marcellin Buttin, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Regan King, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements: 16 Benoit Cabello, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 21 David Skrela, 22 Naipolioni Nalaga , 23 Adrien Oleon.

SU Agen 9-13 Montpellier Hérault Rugby
Stade Armandie, Agen

Montpellier were made to work very hard, but got the job done and leapfrogged Grenoble and Castres in the standings as a result.

Despite being reduced to 14 men after the sending off of full-back Ben Seymour for taking François Trinh-Duc out in the air in the 20th minute, Agen put up a real fight and only trailed 7-6 at half time.

Montpellier should have put the game to bed in the second half but struggled at scrum time and were regularly penalised while on the attack.

The scorers:

For Agen:
Pens: Barnard 3
Rec card: Seymour

For Montpellier:
Try: Nagusa
Con: Bustos Moyano
Pens: Bustos Moyano 2
Yellow cards: De Marco, van Vuuren

Agen: 15 Ben Seymour, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Vincent Roux, 12 Senio junior Pelesasa, 11 Nafitalai henry Tuitavake, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Mathieu Loree, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Marc Giraud, 6 Ueleni Fono, 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Lisiate Faaoso, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Jalil Narjissi, 1 Bernard N nomo,
Replacements: 16 Semisi Telefoni, 17 John Schwalger, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Remi Vaquin, 20 Alexi Bales, 21 Jean francois Coux, 22 Silvere Tian, 23 Viliamu Afatia

Montpellier: 15 Martin Bustos Moyano, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Yoan Audrin, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Alexandre Bias, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Mickael De marco, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements: 16 Erasmus Jansen van vuuren, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Alikisio Fakate, 19 John Beattie, 20 Benoit Paillaugue, 21 Paul Bosch, 22 Benjamin Thiery, 23 Barry Faamausili.

Union Bordeaux-Bègles 15-22 Racing Métro 92
Stade André Moga, Bègles

Racing-Métro keep their hopes of the knock-out rugby alive with an invaluable win on the road despite the absence of suspended leaders Dimitri Szarzewski and Fabrice Estebanez.

Bordeaux-Bègles led 9-6 at half time but conceded 13 unanswered points during the sin binning of captain Mathew Clarkin, with Racing centre Alexandre Dumoulin landing the killer blow just before the hour mark.

A losing bonus point for UBB leaves them level with Agen on the edge of the relegation zone.

The scorers:

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Pens: Lopez 5
Yellow card: Clarkin
Red cards: Toetu

For Racing Métro:
Try: Dumoulin
Con: Wisniewski
Pens: Wisniewski 4, Machenaud
Yellow cards: Dumoulin, Metz

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Metuisela Talebulamaijaina, 13 Julien Rey, 12 Andrew Mailei, 11 Felix Le bourhis, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Justin Purll, 7 Matthew Clarkin, 6 Louis benoit Madaule, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Cameron Treloar, 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Wayne Avei, 1 Laurent Delboulbes,
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Francois Tisseau, 19 Gautier Gibouin, 20 Baptiste Serin, 21 Lachie Munro, 22 Rafael Carballo, 23 Albert Toetu

Racing Métro:15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Jacques Cronje, 7 Bernard Le roux, 6 Camille Gerondeau, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Francois Van der Merwe, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Benjamin Noirot, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Alvaro Galindo, 20 Henry Chavancy, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Fabrice Metz, 23 Juan pablo Orlandi.

Stade Français Paris 36-6 FC Grenoble
Stade Charléty, Paris

A timely bonus-point win for Stade Français, who remain unbeaten at Stade Charléty this term.

Grenoble led 6-0 early on but it was one-way traffic their after as the Parisians scored two tries in each half.

The result sees stade move to within striking distance of the play-off berths, five points behind Grenoble.

The scorers:

For Stade Français:
Tries: Doumayrou, Sinzelle, Turinui, Williams
Cons: Dupuy 3
Pens: Dupuy 3

For Grenoble:
Pens: Pelissie 2
Yellow cards: Jaouher

Stade Français: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Paul Williams, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Morgan Turinui, 11 Jeremy Sinzelle, 10 Paul Warwick, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 David Lyons, 7 Antoine Burban, 6 Olivier Missoup, 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 David Attoub, 2 Laurent Sempere, 1 Aled De malmanche,
Replacements: 16 Remi Bonfils, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Anton Van zyl, 19 Sergio Parisse, 20 Jerome Fillol, 21 Francis Fainifo, 22 Jerome Porical, 23 Stanley Wright

Grenoble: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Matthieu Nicolas, 13 Rida Jaouher, 12 Rudolf Coetzee, 11 Viliame Waqaseduadua, 10 Nicolas Laharrague, 9 Jonathan Pelissie, 8 Richard Sowerby, 7 Henry Vanderglas, 6 Jonathan Best, 5 Naude Beukes, 4 Benjamin Hand, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Anthony Hegarty, 1 Kenan Mutapcic.
Replacements: 16 Gregory Fabro, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Andrew Farley, 19 Florian Faure, 20 Fabien Alexandre, 21 Aloisio Butonidualevu, 22 Clement Darbo, 23 Feliuaki Taukeiaho.

Rugby Club Toulonnais 15-9 Stade Montois
Stade Felix Mayol, Toulon

After defeat to Racing in the Top 14 and Montpellier in the Heineken Cup, Toulon needed a good result to steady the ship, but this will not be considered a huge success.

A narrow win against the bottom side in the league - who also coughed up two yellow cards - is not what was expected as RCT flattered to deceive.

Toulon led 15-9 at half time but were unable to trouble the scorers after the break.

The scorers:

For Toulon:
Tries: Masoe, Palisson
Cons: Wilkinson
Pen: Wilkinson

For Mont-de-Marsan:
Pens: Arrayet 3
Yellow cards: Bost, Rabeni

Toulon: 15 Vincent Martin, 14 Rudolffe Wulf, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Frederic Michalak, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Jocelino Suta, 4 Nicholas Kennedy, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Jean Charles Orioli, 1 Gethin Jenkins,
Replacements: 16 Sebastien Bruno, 17 Andrew Sheridan, 18 Konstantine Mikautadze, 19 Pierrick Gunther, 20 Maxime Mermoz, 21 David Smith, 22 Nicolas Durand, 23 Levan Chilachava

Mont de Marsan: 15 Jean marc Mazzonetto, 14 Martin Jagr, 13 Jean baptiste Dubie, 12 Baptiste Chedal, 11 Julien Cabannes, 10 Bernard Arrayet, 9 Arnaud Pic, 8 Haisini Taulanga, 7 Vassili Bost, 6 Julien Tastet, 5 Berend Botha, 4 Wame Lewaravu, 3 Sebastien Ormaechea, 2 Ephraim Taukafa, 1 Alexandre Menini.
Replacements: 16 Joan Caudullo, 17 Pierre Correia, 18 Sebastian De chaves, 19 Philipus Liebenberg, 20 Simon Lucu, 21 Seru Rabeni, 22 Thibault Duvallet, 23 Tevita Mailau.