Racing-Métro 92 have reclaimed top spot after a late trio of long-range penalties from Francois Steyn earned them a defensive bonus at Stade Toulousain.

Racing went down 28-23 at the European champions, but Steyn's three 50+m penalties in the closing 10 minutes were enough to see them sneak one point ahead of Stade Toulousain, Montpellier and Toulon in the Top 14 pecking order.

The stolen bonus point looked a distant prospect when David Skrela slotted a 54th-minute penalty to leave Stade 25-11 ahead, but Jonathan Wisniewski replied in kind two minutes later before Racing's late rally. The visitors had brought on heavyweights Sébastien Chabal and Lionel Nallet by then, and both French internationals played a prominent part in Racing's revival.

Top 14 League Table

Earlier, it had been an unlikely Clément Poitrenaud drop-goal which got Stade off the mark in the ninth minute, with Skrela and Wisniewski then trading a penalty each before Byron Kelleher powered over from close range for the game's opening try.

Friday 01 Oct
Toulon	22	Castres	15
Saturday 02 Oct
Bourgoin	18	Brive	3
Perpignan	21	La Rochelle	16
Clermont Auvergne	45	SU Agen	19
Stade Francais	30	Montpellier	13
Stade Toulousain	28	Racing-Métro 92	23
Bayonne	19	Biarritz	22

Skrela's conversion and a subsequent drop-goal extended Stade's advantage to 16-3, with Wisniewski getting a late penalty in reply to leave it 16-6 to the hosts in front of a sold out 32,000 crowd at half time.

Skrela was on target with two more penalties soon after the resumption to put Stade 22-6 ahead, before Racing's comeback was initiated by a 52nd-minute try from Albert Vulivuli following a deft cross kick by Wisniewski.

At 25-11 it still seemed a routine win for Stade would leave them in a four-way tie at the summit of Top 14, but that was without factoring in Steyn's booming boot.

Leading try and point-scorers in Top 14

Earlier, pre-weekend leaders Montpellier attempted a valiant comeback against Stade Francais, but ultimately fell short as the paid the price for conceding three first-half tries to the Parisians en-route to their 30-13 away defeat.

It was a disappointing return to his former club for Montpellier boss Fabien Galthié, with the home side racing in to a 27-3 half-time lead as they capitalised on Sylvain Mirande's early yellow card.

The Montpellier centre was fortunate not to concede a penalty try as well after taking out Stade winger Julien Arias without the ball, but the hosts soon opened their account when Quentin Valancon went over in the corner after 14 minutes - for his third try in as many games - following a quickly taken tap penalty by Sergio Parisse. Fly-half Lionel Beauxis added the conversion to an earlier penalty to make it 10-0.

South African prop Rayno Gerber was next over (for his first try in Stade colours) after a sweeping move that twice crossed the width of the pitch, while Scottish international full-back Hugo Southwell crossed for the home team's third shortly before half-time.

Beauxis was again on target with both conversions, and another penalty, leaving Stade comfortable 27-3 leaders at the break. Montpellier's only response had been Francois Trinh-Duc's 27th-minute penalty.

Montpellier began the second half in far more positive fashion and clawed themselves back to 27-13 thanks to tries from Timoci Nagusa and Mamuka Gorgodze, although Trinh-Duc failed to convert either.

But that was as good as it got for the visitors, with Beauxis having the final say as he landed a 74th-minute penalty to ensure there would be no further comeback.

French champions Clermont Auvergne warmed up for their Heineken Cup campaign with a resounding 45-19 home win as they ran in seven tries against struggling SU Agen.

Vern Cotter's team didn't have it all their own way and were given an early scare when American international Kevin Swiryn touched down for the visitors after just eight minutes, but 'Les Jaunards' quickly re-focused and were level within three minutes when skipper Aurélien Rougerie raced on to Brock James' delicate chip.  Their increasing dominance began to tell and they subsequently powered ahead when South African centre Marius Joubert went over in the corner soon after, with Morgan Parra adding the extras once more.

Clermont managed a third try before the interval when French international Julien Bonnaire broke through from close range on 30 minutes, although this time Parra was wayward with his conversion attempt.

That enabled Agen to sneak back into contention courtesy of a brace of Valentin  Courrent penalties, leaving the half-time score 19-13 to Clermont. That gap was narrowed further when Courrent kicked his third penalty just three minutes after the restart, but Clermont bounced back with two Julien Malzieu tries in six minutes as they broke free again. Parra added the home team's sixth score on the hour-mark, before Fijian winger Napolioni Nalaga rounded it off with their seventh in time added on.

Agen's frustration was then compounded by news of Bourgoin's 18-3 home win against Brive, a result which saw the Isere club climb off the bottom of the table at Agen's expense.

Bourgoin were 0-3 down at half-time after Mathieu Belie's 17th-minute penalty for Brive, but the rallied after the break with Sébastien Laloo's 45th-minute reply them level before South African lock Connie Basson went over for a try 11 minutes from time.

Laloo added the conversion to make it 10-3 to Bourgoin, and their joy was then doubled at the end when replacement prop Erwan Iapteff went over in time added on to somewhat flatter the scoreline. Bourgoin, who had lost seven of their eight previous games, will care not a jot though.

Perpignan extended their unbeaten run to six matches as they beat lowly La Rochelle, but a second-half red card for Henry Tuilagi brought an anxious climax as 'The Maritimers' rallied from 21-3 down to eventually finish within five points and claim the defensive bonus.

That had all seemed a far-off prospect as the Catalans initially responded to Benjamin Dambielle's early penalty with a pair of tries from Gerrie Britz (12 mins) and Jeoffrey Michel (32 mins). Full-back Jérôme Porical converted both to leave Perpignan sitting pretty with a 14-3 half-time lead, an advantage they extended further when Adrien Plante got their third try on 43 minutes.

That was fair reward for Plante after the winger had a hand in both of Perpignan's earlier tries, and with Porical again adding the conversion it seemed game over as far as interest went.

A Thomas Soucaze try for La Rochelle appeared no more than a token strike - even with Dambielle adding the conversion and a later penalty - but then Perpignan number eight Henry Tuilagi was sent-off to change the complexion of the match.

Italian referee Carlo Damasco had already warned Tuilagi for one dangerous tackle before he eventually sent him off on 67 minutes, precipitating a frantic finale as the visitors pushed for another score. In the end they had to settle for a defensive bonus thanks to Dambielle's injury-time penalty following a collapsed scrum, leaving Perpignan narrow victors yet again.

The Catalans are making a habit of just doing enough this season as all five of their victories have been by eight points or less.