Romain Teulet was in inspired form as Castres reclaimed top spot in the Top 14 courtesy of a 35-10 victory over Brive at the Stade Pierre Antoine on Saturday afternoon.
After being briefly usurped by Clermont Auvergne, who defeated Perpignan the night before, Castres returned to the summit in fine style, running in four tries, through Joe Tekori, Teulet, Pierre-Emmanuel Garcia and Chris Masoe, in a commanding win. Fullback Teulet also contributed 15 points with the boot. Brive managed a solitary converted touchdown from Lachie Mackay and a penalty from Alexis Palisson by way of a response.
Castres were always in control of the game. Teulet had already stroked over three penalties by the time Tekori nipped in for the opening try of the afternoon, on 22 minutes. Mackay responded for the visitors moments later but Teulet crossed just after the half hour mark to put his side back in command.
Brive proved nothing if not spirited and they reduced their arrears with a Palisson penalty just after half-time. However, they were ultimately undone by the 54th-minute sin-binning of Simon Azoulai, with a ruthless Castres dotting twice whilst the replacement forward was off the pitch, through Garcia and Masoe.
The bonus point thus secured, Castres coasted through the final quarter on their way to a victory which sees them end the weekend two points clear of Clermont as well as maintaining this season's unbeaten home record.
David Skrela helped himself to 19 points as Toulouse recorded a stunning 29-0 demolition of Stade Francais before 80,000 fans in Saint Denis on Saturday. The build-up to the game had been overshadowed by the row between Stade and the Rugby Football Union over the release of flanker James Haskell. Stade's request to have the England international released for the game was refused by the RFU, who insisted there was a clause in the player's contract allowing them to hold on to the player.
Toulouse were utterly dominant throughout, and this in spite of the fact that they lost Frederic Michalak to what looked like a serious knee injury after just over four minutes of action. Byron Kelleher proved a more than worthy replacement and Skrela was in majestic form with the boot.
With Toulouse battering their hosts up front, the veteran fly-half landed three penalties to put nine points between the sides at the interval. Six minutes into the second half, Toulouse finally accrued the try their superiority warranted, Gregory Lamboley crashing over with the aid of a clever dummy after being the recipient of a favourable rebound.
Skrela dissected the uprights with the resulting conversion attempt before continuing his flawless exhibition of goal-kicking by landing two further penalties to put 22 points between the sides after just over an hour of play. The home fans were stunned and they began to trickle out of the Stade de France when Cencus Johnston dived over after a blistering break from Yann David.
Toulon boosted their hopes of securing a play-off place by edging out Biarritz 21-20 in a dramatic encounter at the Stade Felix-Mayol. The home side were trailing by 12 points after an hour but brought themselves back into the game with two penalties in the space of four minutes from Felipe Contepomi, who was starting at fly-half in the absence of England's Jonny Wilkinson.
Toulon poured forward in search of the converted try which they needed to win the game and they finally made the breakthrough with three minutes to go when Jean Charles Orioli crashed over. Contepomi still needed to add the extras to nick it for Toulon but the Argentine did just that, much to the delight of the home fans. It was a desperately difficult defeat for Biarritz to take. It was they who had opened the scoring, through their goal-kicking scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili 16 minutes in. Contepomi hit back for Toulon and the hosts moved ahead when Gabirieli Lovobalavu dived over midway through the first half. However, Damien Traille and Yachvili scored either side of half time to seemingly put the visitors in complete control of the game. Orioli and Contepomi had other ideas, though.
Elsewhere, Racing Metro's push for a play-off place was dealt a blow with a 22-19 loss to Montpellier at Stade Yves du Manoir. The kicking exploits of fly-half Jonathan Wisniewski and centre Frans Steyn gave Racing a narrow 9-6 lead at half-time and they extended their advantage after the break thanks to a try from winger Sireli Bobo. The boot of Federico Todeschini kept Montpellier in touch with four penalties and he also converted a late try from replacement prop Eugene van Staden to bring his side level. But there was still time for the fullback to steal the win for the hosts with his fifth and final penalty.
Bourgoin enjoyed a crucial 22-14 victory over fellow strugglers Montauban at the Stade Pierre Rajon. After Benjamin Boyet and Leonard Olivier had exchanged early penalties, Wessel Jooste crashed over for the hosts shortly after coming on as a replacement for Bourgoin's injured No.8, Thomas Genevois. Boyet made no mistake with the conversion attempt and then stroked over a penalty on the half hour to put ten points between the sides.
However, Olivier landed two penalties before the interval to keep Montauban in touch and the momentum shifted emphatically in their favour when Arganese touched down in the 43rd minute, just seconds after Bourgoin lock Coenie Basson had been sent to the sin bin.
Bourgoin held firm, though, and managed to see out the game without the concession of any further scores, while at the same time racking up two more penalties, though Alberto di Bernardo, to ensure that their visitors were left without the consolation of a losing bonus point.
Albi, meanwhile, remain rooted to the foot of the table after a devastating 46-13 defeat by Bayonne at the Stade Jean Dauger. Lionel Mazars bagged a brace for the home side, while Arnaud Heguy, Thibault Lacroix, Sam Gerber and David Roumieu all scored one try apiece. Michel Denetre accounted for Albi's only try on what was a demoralising and humiliating afternoon for the men from the Midi-Pyrénées.
Remarkably, in light of the one-sided nature of the final scoreline, Albi were well in the game for well over half an hour. However, with the scores tied at three points apiece after early penalties from Cedric Garcia and Benjamin Lapeyre, Albi were rocked by the loss of Bastien Marut to the sin bin just four minutes before the break.
Bayonne wasted little time in capitalising on their numerical advantage, sending Heguy over just 60 seconds later. Mazars claimed the first of his two tries on 54 minutes and the centre's effort was swiftly followed by another from Lacroix. Denetre replied to provide Albi with a flicker of hope but it was quickly extinguished by Mazars, who dotted down again in the 66th minute. Bayonne were now rampant and not even a yellow card for Jean Jo Marmouyet failed to derail them, the hosts rounding out a morale-boosting win with further tries from Gerber and Rumieu in the closing minutes.