Top 14: Perpignan go top after late Marty try; Brive beat Bayonne to continue run

Perpignan are the new leaders of Top 14 but they needed a late try from centre David Marty to overcome lowly Dax at the Stade Maurice Boyau.

The relegation-threatened hosts – who went into the match on the back of eight successive league defeats – looked to be on course for the day’s biggest upset when they led the Catalans 13-9 with just nine minutes to go, but once more the fell at the last after their late defeat at Bayonne in round 20.

Defensive bonus points are all well and good – and they may yet prove crucial – but Thomas Lièvremont must be cursing his side’s inability to hang on for the victories which would have seen them rise clear of the drop zone.

Top 14 Table / Top 14 Fixtures

Instead, they remain 13^th and now on a run of nine consecutive losses – a harsh return after leading Perpignan for most of this match.

Their opponents, meanwhile, are perfecting the art of late comebacks following their last-ditch win at Toulon courtesy of David Mélé’s drop-goal.

This week they were 6-0 down at half-time courtesy of a drop-goal and penalty from Antoine Vignau-Tuquet, although they returned to parity with 20 minutes to go after Maxime Mermoz and Jerome Porical landed a penalty apiece.

But within seconds of getting back on level terms they found themselves behind yet again – this time after South African number eight Jannie Bornman seized on a Gavin Hume mistake to score the game’s opening try.

Lawrence Marticorena added the conversion to lift the home side 13-6 clear - and within sight of their first home win in five months - but Porical narrowed the gap with a 68^th-minute penalty before Marty went over just three minutes later.

The victory means Perpignan move ahead of Stade Toulousain – who play Stade Francais on Sunday – and top the division for the first time this season.

Dax, meanwhile, remain 13^th, and are four points behind Toulon - their nearest rivals – after Bourgoin pulled off a surprisingly comfortable 22-3 home win against a lacklustre Montpellier.

A trio of early missed kicks from Benjamin Boyet hinted at another torrid day for the home side, but the Bourgoin fly-half then found his range and went on to collect 17 points as he landed five penalties and a conversion.

The game was already up by the time winger Mathieu Nicolas went over for the game’s only try – after 68 minutes – but the was manna from heaven for Bourgoin after conceding 110 points in their last two matches. It was also their first league victory since the end of January, and lifted them above Toulon – who lost to Castres on Friday.

The day’s tightest match was undoubtedly the fourth encounter of the season between Montauban and Clermont Auvergne.

Clermont edged the series 2-1, having won both Heineken Cup clashes, but Montauban came within a whisker of making it a league double before Brock James – who else? – tied the scores when he landed an 82^nd minute drop goal with the final kick of the game.

James had gone into the match on a phenomenal run of 39 consecutive successful kicks at goal, and he extended that to 41 as Clermont edged into an early 6-3 lead.

His 42nd proved his undoing, however, as he finally missed his target – although admittedly from 50m – as opposite number Julien Audy outscored his three kicks to two to give Montauban a 9-6 half-time advantage.

James brought the scores level three minutes after the interval but Montauban flanker Ibrahim Diarra then grabbed the game’s opening try as the hosts moved 16-9 clear. It remained like that until seven minutes from the end, when Clermont full-back Anthony Floch was expertly teed up by Aurélien Rougerie, and when James landed the conversion it was 16 apiece and all to play for.

Five minutes from time Montauban full-back Johan Dalla Riva then thumped a whopping 50m drop-goal of his own as the black and greens appeared set for the win, only for James’ last-gasp heroics to earn a share of the spoils right at the death.

Whether Clermont view it as two points dropped or two points gained will largely depend on whether Brive or Bayonne pip them to fourth spot by the end of the season. For now they will be thankful for James’ boot after the Aussie took his season’s tally to a mighty 261 points.

That’s just 21 fewer than Mont-de-Marsan have mustered as a team all season, and the basement club now look doomed after taking a 37-7 pasting at Biarritz, for whom Jacques Cronje and Benoit August scored two tries apiece.

The Basques warmed up for next week’s derby against Bayonne by opening up a 30-0 advantage in the first-half, with Mont-de-Marsan paying dearly for their own ill-discipline.

They were just 3-0 down when veteran lock Rudolph Bérek saw yellow for backchat in the 17^th minute, and his ten-minute absence allowed Biarritz to run in their first two tries – via hooker August and number eight Cronje - as they made their numerical advantage tell.

Then, with Bérek barely back in the ranks, number eight Julien Tastet was sin-binned six minutes before half-time, paving the way for the home side to add their third try as August claimed a rare double.

Dead-eye Dimitri Yachvili ensured full punishment by kicking all three conversions, as well as a trio of penalties, and suddenly ProD2-bound Mont-de-Marsan were staring down a 30-0 deficit.

Tastet made partial amends when he scored a try of his own soon after returning to the fray in the second half, but that merely redoubled Biarritz’s concentration before Cronje went over for their fourth and final score to ensure the attacking bonus point.

Yachvili, inevitably, landed the extras for a match return of 17 points, and Biarritz climbed above Montauban up to seventh as they continue to pursue Heineken Cup qualification.

The afternoon's final match saw in-form Brive continue their excellent recent run with a 13-6 home win against Bayonne, who had started the day just a point behind them in sixth place.

England fly-half Andy Goode was instrumental to their latest win, landing a first-half penalty and conversion - the latter after Fabrice Estebanez touched down for the game's only try in the 22nd minute.

Two Cedric Garcia penalties - one in each half - ensured Bayonne stayed in the match, but Brive's win took their run to just one defeat in their last 12 league games and lifted them to within four points of Clermont - and a place in the end of season play-offs.

Next up is Stade Toulousain, although they couldn't have picked a better time to play the defending champions as their minds will be focused on their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Cardiff Blues the following weekend.