Stade Toulousain have strengthened their lead in Top 14 after edging out Brive 23-22 on an afternoon when four of the five matches ended with margins of four points or less.

Toulouse's narrow victory was achieved thanks to the combined scoring abilities of scrum-half Frédéric Michalak and Fijian winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca.

Top 14 League Table 2010/11

Michalak landed six out of six penalty attempts, only missing one kick all afternoon - after Caucaunibuca had withstood the attention of five Brive defenders to power over for the game's opening try after on the hour mark.

Toulouse were leading 20-15 at that point after Mathieu Belie (three pens) and Julien Caminati (two pens) had helped Brive keep pace with the hosts. Michalak's sixth penalty success extended that advantage further five minutes later, but a solo try from Alexis Palisson, which Belie converted, set up a nervous finale for the European champions.

Both Cédric Heymans and Nicolas Bézy attempted long-range drops near the death to help settle the result, but in the end Toulouse had already done just enough.

This latest win lifted them six points clear of second placed Racing-Métro 92 (after the Parisians lost at Biarritz) while Brive - despite their heroic effort - slipped back into the relegation zone following La Rochelle's home win against Montpellier.

Leading scorers in Top 14 2010/11

The 'Maritimers' are certainly giving everything they've got to try and retain their precious Top 14 status, and on Saturday they fought back from 13-3 down shortly before half time to eventually win 20-16.

Their victory ended a four-match losing streak and lifted them one point above Brive in an ongoing relegation dog fight that appears set to continue until the last weekend of the season.

Montpellier fly-half Raphael Lagarde got the visitors off the mark with a first-minute drop-goal before La Rochelle's Benjamin Dambielle replied with a penalty to leave it all square after the opening quarter.

Montpellier then scored the game's opening try through Dimitri Pelo, with Benoît Paillaugue adding the conversion and a subsequent penalty to put the visitors 13-3 ahead. At that point it looked as if Fabien Galthié's side could be in line for their first away win in the league since October, but La Rochelle came storming back thanks to tries from Tomas Combezou (in the 40th minute) and Rémi Tales (in the 58th). Both were converted by Dambielle, who also added a penalty in-between as La Rochelle recorded only their sixth win of the campaign.

Conversely for Montpellier it was their fifth successive away defeat, although Paillaugue's late penalty six minutes from time did at least ensure they didn't go home empty-handed. Indeed, their losing bonus point was, remarkably given their position, their very first of the season

Montpellier saw them slip to fifth spot, and still six points behind second-placed Racing-Métro 92 despite the latter going down 36-32 in an amazing match at Biarritz.

Racing got off to a flying start and were 16-3 up after just 14 minutes thanks to a Julien Saubade try and 11 points from the boot of fly-half Jonathan Wisniewski. But Biarritz fought their way back into the match following a 22nd-minute yellow card for Racing centre Frans Steyn, after the Springbok cynically took out Takudzwa Ngwenya without the ball.

Fly-half Julien Peyrelongue kicked the resultant penalty - adding to his fourth-minute effort - before 20-year-old scrum-half Yann Lesgourgues went over for his first senior try on the half hour. Peyrelongue kicked the conversion and a penalty four minutes later to leave it 16-16 at the interval, before Biarritz claimed the lead for the first time in the match with a try from Fijian winger Ilikena Bolakoro just three minutes after the restart.

Peyrelongue was again on target with his conversion, meaning Biarritz had scored 20 unanswered points in a purple 20-minute spell.

Racing finally broke that domination thanks to a long-range Steyn penalty on 47 minutes, but Argentine centre Marcelo Bosch then stole in for another Biarritz try after good work in the build-up from full-back Iain Balshaw.

At 28-19 Biarritz scented a possible bonus-point win, but those thoughts were swiftly checked when Racing hooker Benjamin Noirot went over on 55 minutes, with Wisniewski adding the extras. Steyn and Wisniewski then went on to add a further penalty each as the visitors edged 32-28 ahead, only for Bolakoro to grab his second try of the match in the 71st minute as the Basques dramatically reclaimed the lead.

Peyrelongue missed his conversion this time, but did add a 76th-minute penalty to seal the win, which came just a week after Biarritz held off La Rochelle to win 32-30. But the Basques are still up to fourth despite that, and are now level on points with fifth-placed Montpellier.

Castres are now up to third after they beat defending champions Clermont Auvergne 23-19 to maintain their unbeaten home record.

A trio of Anthony Floch penalties helped Clermont establish an early 9-3 lead, but Castres scored the game's first try when former All Black Chris Masoe powered over from a 5m scrum, with Romain Teulet's conversion sneaking them one point ahead.

Clermont were a man down at the time following Thibaut Privat's 26th-minute yellow card, but even with that disadvantage they still managed to reclaim the lead when Samoan centre George Pisi went over for a debut try.

Flanker Alexandre Audebert then went close following a charged down clearance kick, but 'Les Jaunards' were still content to go in with a 14-10 half-time advantage.

Further Clermont ill-discipline saw South African centre Marius Joubert sin-binned for a high tackle two minutes after the restart, with Castres then piling on the pressure until Yoan Audrin eventually went over in the corner on 47 minutes. Teulet again converted to make it 17-14 to Castres, only for Clermont to bounce back with a second try of their own.

This time it was replacement hooker Willie Wepener who went over, just five minutes after coming on, as Clermont counter-attacked superbly after Masoe had once more gone close for Castres.

Floch failed to add the extras and Clermont could only hold their two-point lead for three minutes before Teulet landed a brace of penalties in the 58th and 62nd minutes which effectively sealed the victory.

There was still time for Castres' Fijian Sérémaia Bai to pick up a yellow card against his former club, and Clermont came within inches of sneaking it at the death only for Pisi's pass to Benoit Baby to go astray with the try-line begging.

Elsewhere on Saturday afternoon Toulon ran in six tries despite having three players yellow carded as they beat basement club Bourgoin 39-17.

Benjamin Lapeyre, Christian Loamanu and Fabien Cibray all claimed two tries each as Toulon secured the winning bonus, while fly-half Felipe Contepomi kicked three conversions and a penalty to score the home side's other points.

Replacement hooker Julien Janaudy replied for Bourgoin early in the second half - when they were already 27-3 down - while the visitors were also awarded a penalty try five minutes from time as 13-man Toulon struggled following yellow cards for Lapeyre and Carl Hayman.

Both teams had also lost a player to the sin-bin in the first half after Mickaël Ivaldi and Thomas Genevois squared up.

Toulon's win temporarily lifted Philippe Saint-Andre's side up to sixth - level on points with Castres - while for Bourgoin it was a 12th successive defeat and mathematically confirmed that they will be relegated to ProD2.

The other afternoon match saw Stade Francais labour to a 22-18 home win against lowly SU Agen..

Stade needed a bonus-point win to have any realistic hopes of making the play-offs, but they found themselves 9-3 down after 23 minutes following two penalties and a drop-goal from Agen fly-half Conrad Barnard.

Stade scrum-half Julien Dupuy then landed three quick-fire penalties for the hosts, to add to his eighth-minute opener, as the Parisians edged into a 12-9 half-time lead.

Barnard (two more pens and a drop-goal) and Dupuy (one more pen) continued their kicking duel beyond the hour mark, leaving Agen 18-15 ahead going into the last 10 minutes before Mauro Bergamasco finally went over for Stade to seal the win.

Bergamasco had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes as he made his comeback from four months out with a shoulder injury, but his presence proved decisive as Stade at least got the win. Dupuy added the conversion for good measure, but Agen did enough to warrant their losing bonus, which proved crucial in light of the results elsewhere involving Brive and La Rochelle.

It means that last year's ProD2 champions are now in 11th spot, one point ahead of La Rochelle and two in front of Brive with just five more matches left to play.