Unfancied Montpellier are the new leaders of Top 14 - for the first time in their history - after beating La Rochelle 26-6 on Saturday night.

Fabien Galthié's side edged ahead of Racing-Métro on points difference after claiming the attacking bonus against the struggling 'Maritimers'.

Montpellier were dominant throughout, running in first-half tries through Sylvain Mirande and Pierre Berard, before replacement prop Goderzi Shvelidze secured the bonus point with their third try seven minutes from time.

La Rochelle were down to 14 men by then after centre Seru Rabeni picked up his second yellow card of the match on 56 minutes - both for late tackles. The visitors defended heroically after that, but with France flu-half Francois Trinh-Duc in irresistible form once more Montpellier proved just too strong to contain.

The international No 10 had a hand in all three of his side's tries, as well as kicking 11 points via two penalties, a drop-goal and a conversion.

Montpellier have now won six of their last seven matches - including notable victories against Racing, Perpignan and Stade Toulousain - and fully deserve their lofty position after playing attack-minded rugby that has surprised many this season.

La Rochelle, by contrast, have now lost five on the spin after a promising start to their Top 14 odyssey, although they remain just above the drop zone for the time being. 

Pre-weekend leaders Racing-Métro 92 maintained their superb start to 2010/11 with a 17-12 home win over Biarritz on Saturday afternoon, although it wasn't enough to see them hang on to their cherished first place.

'Les Francilliens' were once more indebted to fly-half Jonathan Wisniewski after 25-year-old slotted four penalties in his team's 17-6 home win.

Wisniewski, who had spells with Stade Toulousain, Castres and Colomiers before settling at Racing, took his season's tally up to 116 points with his latest match haul - two behind Jonny Wilkinson - as Pierre Berbizier's men secured their sixth win in eight games.

Wisniewski's opening penalty (after five minutes) put Racing 3-0 ahead before Benjamin Fall - playing on the wing again - rounded off a fluent move involving Nicolas Durand, Mirco Bergamasco and Henry Chavancy to score the game's only try. It was also his first for the club since his high-profile summer move from Bayonne.

Racing's fly-half was off target with the conversion but landed two more penalties to give his side a 14-3 half-time lead, with Biarritz's sole response being a 26th-minute Julien Peyrelongue penalty.

The visitors had arrived on the back of three successive wins, but their eyes were clearly trained on next weekend's Basque derby as they rested Imanol Harinordoquy, Magnus Lund and Dimitri Yachvili. The latter did eventually enter the fray after half-time - like last weekend - and his impact lifted Biarritz immediately. Two penalties lifted his team within five points following Wisniewski's final success, but the Heineken Cup runners-up had to content themselves with a defensive bonus as it remained 17-12 at the whistle. 

Meanwhile, defending champions Clermont Auvergne stopped a two-match losing streak with a 24-6 home win against Castres at the Stade Marcel Michelin.

The hosts went 3-0 ahead through an early Anthony Floch drop-goal, only for points machine Romain Teulet to equalise for Castres with his 12th-minute reply. Clermont took increasing control of the match thereafter a 38th-minute Brock James penalty was followed shortly after by the game's opening try from France winger Julien Malzieu. James missed the conversion but landed two more penalties before the break to leave Clermont 17-3 up and Castres ruing two squandered try opportunities.

Floch, Morgan Parra and James all failed with drop-goal attempts after the break before Clermont, who went into this weekend in lowly 10th spot, ensured they made it three wins from three at home with Alexandre Lapandry's 62nd-minute try.

Castres thought they had managed a late consolation when Josefa Tekori appeared to touch down just beyond the line, but the television referee ruled otherwise and Castres departed empty handed again. Remarkably they have now failed to win on the road in Top since 23 October 2009.

    Leading try and point-scorers in Top 14

Buoyant Brive narrowly failed to beat Stade Toulousain at home for the second season running after two late David Skrela penalties earned the visitors a 16-16 draw. Toulouse could even have stolen it at the death but for an untimely knock-on from Clément Poitrenaud with an overlap begging.

But that would have been harsh on the Limousin club after they rallied from an early 0-10 deficit following Vilimoni Delasau's second-minute try and five points from the boot of Nicolas Bézy.

Brive lock Arnaud Mela powered over in the 23rd minute to get the hosts back in the game and former Toulouse youngster Mathieu Belie added the conversion and a later penalty to level the scores.

Toulouse lost winger Cédric Heymans six minutes before the break when he was yellow-carded, and the home team took the lead for the first time in the match after the resumption when Fabrice Estebanez landed a 40m drop-goal.

Skrela then entered in place of Bézy, but the experienced international was wayward with his first two penalty attempts, allowing Brive to pull further ahead when belie succeeded with his own 68th-minute effort.

By then Brive had already survived a 10-minute spell without Georgian prop Davit Kinchagishvili, but Toulouse's mounting pressure eventually told with Skrela finally landing penalties in the 71st and 75th minutes to earn the draw.

Elsewhere in Top 14 on Saturday there was a breakthrough away win for Stade Francais - their first of the season - as they claimed a 12-27 victory at SU Agen.

Tries from Quentin Valancon and James Haskell set Stade on their way, with Argentine utility back Martin Rodriguez Gurruchaga adding four penalties and a conversion as they condemned Agen to their sixth defeat of the season and their second in successive weekends at home.

The hosts did manage two tries of their own in an entertaining first half, with Ueleni Fono barging over in the 18th minute and Brice Dulin running in just before the interval, but Stade just about deserved their 12-14 lead before pulling clear in the second period. Haskell's 42nd-minute try gave them the necessary momentum.

Agen's defeat meant they failed to pull clear of basement club Bourgoin, who went down 3-26 at home to Toulon on Friday night.

Perpignan also managed their first away win of the season as they edged a 51-point thriller 25-26 at Bayonne.

The Catalans' latest win was their second one-point victory in succession - following last weekend's 22-21 win against Stade Francais - and extended their current unbeaten run to five games, despite not yet finding their best form.

There was no real sign of the drama to follow, however, as they raced into a 3-17 lead after 20 minutes thanks to a brace of Maxime Mermoz tries and seven points from the boot of full-back Jérôme Porical.

Bayonne's initial problems were largely self-made as they missed an incredible 10 out of 25 tackles in the first 22 minutes, but they began to haul themselves back into contention as they won a series of penalties before the break.

Fly-half Benjamin Boyet kicked four between the 28th and 40th minutes, making it five out of five in the match - and 12 out of 12 at the Stade jean Dauger this season - as Bayonne fought back to within two points at the interval as they went in 15-17 down.

Porical briefly lifted Perpignan further ahead with a 48th-minute penalty, but the momentum was very much with Bayonne by now and former captain Rémy Martin went over for their opening try three minutes later as they pulled level.  

Boyet missed the subsequent conversion - unlucky 13? - but Bayonne duly claimed the lead eight minutes later when South African Joe Pietersen raced in to make it 25-20. Boyet again failed to add the extras, however, and this time it proved crucial as two late Porical penalties (in the 69th and 72nd minutes) enabled Perpignan to sneak the win, and end Bayonne's unbeaten home record in the process.