Top 14 Wrap: Round 20
Biarritz couldn't hang on to Perpignan
Perpignan, Castres and Dax were the big winners in a weekend characterised by a bunch of close results and one annihilation.
In beating Biarritz, Perpignan took a massive step closer to a semi-final spot while Castres's win over Clermont proves that just about anything is possible in the Top 14
Wins for Dax and Albi mean that the relegation battle rages on.
Results
Clermont 28 - 35 Castres
Toulouse 73 - 12 Auch
Perpignan 16 - 3 Biarritz
Dax 20-16 Montauban
Bayonne 19-16 Montpellier
Albi 21 - 18 Brive
Stade Français 34 - 20 Bourgoin
Table after Round 20
1 Clermont 77
2 Toulouse 71
3 Stade Français 65
4 Perpignan 61
5 Biarritz 53
6 Castres 51
7 Montauban TG15 46
8 Montpellier RC 40
9 Bayonne 39
10 Bourgoin 38
11 Brive 37
12 Albi 36
13 Dax 30
14 Auch 14
What an upset! How the mighty fall. Clermont hadn't lost at home in over two years and were looking for their eleventh straight win.
At home, in front of a sell-out crowd and with an almost full-strength side, the Top 14 leaders didn't have any excuses. Castres were simply the better side on the day and will head into their home game against Toulouse on Wednesday brimming with confidence.
It was a lacklustre performance from Clermont who looked on in disbelieve as their defence fell apart and Castres outscored them four tries to one.
"This is enormous. We have three matches in a week and we feared we might lose all three," said Castres coach Alain Gaillard afterwards.
"We were thinking more about Toulouse, but the players were admirable, and really stuck together. That said, Clermont are better than us. They had an off day and we were able to benefit."
How fortunes can change! Just two weeks ago Toulouse were licking their wounds as Clermont left la Ville Rose on cloud nine.
A fortnight later, Clermont are scratching their heads in the wake of a humbling loss while Toulouse are in the Heineken Cup Final and celebrated the return of French international Florian Fritz with an eleven try demolition of Auch.
Not too much commentary is need here, the scoreline speaks for itself.
Perpignan 16 - 3 Biarritz
Biarritz's semi-final ambitions went down the tube in Perpignan on Saturday as their Catalan hosts maintained their unbeaten home record.
The two teams were hugging each other like boxers after a title fight at the end of monumental battle. In front of a record crowd at the newly renovated Stade Aimé-Giral, Perpignan ended a long series of consecutive losses to Biarritz. At the same time, the home side racked up their eighth consecutive win in the Top 14 and put Biarritz eight points behind them on the table.
In perfect conditions the old rivals produced a match worthy of their reputations as two of the best teams in France. In typically Biarritz fashion it was a tightly contested match that just lacked a finishing touch or two to make it a far more high scoring affair.
The game's only try proved to be the turning point of the match as Nicolas Durand scored after a wonderful individual effort that saw him sprint 40 metres to touch down shortly after the second-half restart.
Biarritz had dominated most of the first-half, but as has been their Achilles heal all season, they failed to finish off their opportunities. Perpignan had no such trouble and led 6-3 at the break.
With Perpignan having sorted out their line-out issues from the first-half and Percy Montgomery's boot at it's lethal best, Biarritz were unable to get back into the game despite their courageous efforts.
Dax 20-16 Montauban
This is massive result for Dax who seemed to be punching outside their weight division. By winning at home for the second consecutive time they've kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive for another week. Albi's narrow win against Brive will not have helped those hopes however.
Dax scored all their points in the first-half thanks to tries from Laurent Diaz and Bruno Hiriat, and then had the courage to hang on as the visitors scored ten points in a second-half comeback.
Miguel Abramovic scored a try for the visitors but it wasn't enough.
Montauban are strong contenders for a European spot and were victors over Biarritz just seven days ago. But once again their away form has let them down. A bonus point for losing by less than seven points is their only reward.
Albi 21 - 18 Brive
Albi fought tooth and nail for eighty minutes to walk away with four very important points. Mathieu Maillard kicked a last minute penalty to secure the win that Brive thought would be theirs for most of the match.
South African wing Willem Meyer scored two tries including the game's last in the 74th minute for Albi.
Brive must settle for a bonus point and now find themselves embroiled in the relegation battle they though they had escaped a few weeks ago.
Bayonne 19-16 Montpellier
At last! Bayonne fans will be shouting from the rooftops. After five game without a win the Basques scored their first victory since March 15.
Richard Dourthe was once again the hero for Bayonne, scoring fourteen points at add to a try from Lopez which broke Montpellier's back with fifteen minutes left on the clock.
Despite taking the lead through a Julien Tomas try after just nine minutes, Montpellier leave Bayonne with nothing more than a losing bonus point after another disappointing day out.
Enthusiastic, creative, brave, sometimes even brilliant, the young team from the Herault have a knack for undoing all their good work with some horribly simple mistakes. In the end it was experience and patience that triumphed.
Stade Français 34 - 20 Bourgoin
After five straight wins but having been unconvincing in their last two games Stade Français were facing a stiff test against Bourgoin.
For the second time in as many weeks, the Parisians were forced to rely heavily on their Argentinian maestro Juan Martin Hernandez who contributed 24 of Stade's 34 points.
Sergio Parisse opened the scoring with a try after 17 minutes as Stade played open rugby in the first half-an-hour, in contrast to their recent win against Montpellier.
Bourgoin turned the tide in the second-half however forcing Stade defend for much of the second period. In fact the game was far closer than the scoreboard reflects with a last minute Guillaume Bousses try contributing to a flattering scoreline for the hosts.
Sadly the encounter was soured by a general punch-up in the closing minutes.
Considering the good result for Perpignan earlier in the day, Stade will take the four points with smile.
Castres v Toulouse (Round 19)
As mentioned above, both teams will be coming off very encouraging wins. If scoring 73 points in single game wasn't enough encouragement for Toulouse, the news that Fabien Pelous has decided to extend his playing career by another year will help them sleep at night.
By beating Clermont, Castres have revived their semi-final hopes, an unimaginable situation a few months ago.
Venue: Pierre-Antoine
Kick-off: 18:30 (16:30 GMT)