Top 14: Perpignan beat Clermont Auvergne to stay top; Pelous gets winning send off

Stade Toulousain legend Fabien Pelous got a winning send off on his final outing at the Stade Ernest Wallon, but the defending champions were made to work surprisingly hard for their 13-6 victory against lowly Bourgoin.

A brace of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde penalties set them on the way but the expected avalanche of points failed to materialise, despite Bourgoin sending out an unrecognisable first XV as they rested players ahead of next weekend's European Challenge Cup semi-final.

Sébastien Laloo's 54th-minute penalty narrowed the gap to just three points, and Stade could even have been behind had the Bourgoin fly-half not been off target with three other efforts.

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Indeed, the home side's frustration was clear to all when Byron Kelleher was handed a 10-minute cooling off period shortly before the interval (together with Bourgoin's Mickael Forest) when he attempted his own spot of instant arbitration.

Guy Novés' displeasure was apparent when he sent on Frédéric Michalak in Kelleher's place after the former All Black had served his time, but injuries to Cédric Heymans and Elissalde will have further furrowed the coach's brow.

Only a desperate covering tackle from Florian Fritz then denied Bourgoin's Florian Denos a 50m breakaway try, and the natives were getting restless as their heroes again demonstrated indecision after their recent losses to Cardiff Blues and Toulon.

The red and blacks were in danger of making it three games in a row without a try until Maleli Kunavore's 76th-minute score finally settled the result, but Laloo ended a mixed afternoon on a high note when he landed a last-minute penalty to secure an unexpected defensive bonus. 

It was a happy ending to a trying week for Bourgoin, and should stand them in good stead for next week's home clash with Worcester Warriors.

Pelous, meanwhile, walked off to a tumultuous standing ovation just before the final whistle - having earlier been greeted by a guard of honour and 18,000 wearing masks with his face adorned on them.

It all added to the slightly surreal nature of the afternoon, but one Pelous is sure to remember as he readies himself for imminent retirement.

The win wasn't enough to lift Stade back to top spot though as leaders Perpignan rallied from 16-6 down with 15 minutes left to play, to beat Clermont Auvergne 20-16.

The visitors held a 9-3 half-time lead as Seremaia Bai out-kicked Nicolas Laharrague three penalties to one, and the Catalans looked in deep trouble when Brent Russell then went over for the game's opening try on 60 minutes.

Bai - taking the kicks as Russell continued in place of the rested Brock James - then added the conversion to leave Perpignan staring down the barrel at 16-6 down.

But Laharrague gave them hope with three penalties in six minutes before South African Philip Burger sealed the comeback when he touched down with just eight minutes left.

Laharrague missed the conversion but it didn't prove crucial as Perpignan then held out against Clermont's desperate late charge to ensure they remained ahead of Stade Toulousain on points difference.

Clermont did at least depart with a defensive bonus but still dropped down to fourth position after Stade Francais' 21-16 away win at Castres on Friday night.

Elsewhere, Biarritz were the afternoon's big winners as their 19-12 home victory over Toulon moved them up from seventh to fifth, and a step nearer Heineken Cup rugby next season.

That appeared a distant dream back in their bleak midwinter as they lost six league matches on the spin - and eight in total - but the Basques have bounced back impressively following a run of eight wins in their last 10 games.

This latest victory was a hard-fought affair against Tana Umaga’s understrength Toulon, and once more owed much to the boot of Dimitri Yachvili. The feisty scrum-half landed four penalties and a conversion – after Benoit August’s 49^th-minute try – to ensure Les Biarrots maintained their momentum at the Stade Sports Aguilera.

Toulon refused to buckle despite resting several major players (including captain Joe van Niekerk and centre Sonny Bill Williams) and also having three men yellow-carded (Yoann Maestri, Marc Andreu and Esteban Lozada), finally securing a valuable defensive bonus when South African fly-half Conrad Barnard slotted his fourth penalty of the afternoon right on the siren.

Biarritz’s win took on even greater significance as Bayonne and Brive - their two rivals for the final Heineken slot – both crashed to defeats.

Bayonne went down 20-11 away to Montpellier as they failed to reproduce the form that saw them run in eight tries against Bourgoin last weekend. The key moment was Olivier Sarraméa’s 29^th-minute try which pushed Montpellier into an 11-3 advantage.

Three subsequent penalties from France international Francois Trinh-Duc extended that further to 20-6, before a late try from Pepito Elhorga raised hopes of a defensive bonus for the visitors.

Cédric Garcia missed the conversion, however, and 20-year-old fly-half Pierre Bernard was also unfortunate when a 74^th-minute penalty hit the post.

The victory was a perfect send-off for Montpellier’s exciting young flanker Louis Picamoles – who leaves for Stade Toulousain in the summer – with the 23-year-old tearfully walking off to a standing ovation midway through the second half.

The only downside for Montpellier - who had lost nine of their previous 12 league matches - was an injury to international scrum-half Sébastien Tillous-Borde which seems likely to have ended his season.

Brive's recent downward spiral continued as they fell to a 15-10 away defeat at Montauban – their fourth consecutive reverse.

The afternoon had started promisingly for the ambitious Limousin club with Georgian prop Davit Kinchagishvili crashing over for a third-minute try – converted by Andy Goode – but Montauban fought back via four Petre Mitu penalties and a Johan Della Riva drop-goal to secure only their second league win in two months.

The result left Brive outside the top six and facing the possibility of missing out on what seemed an assured Heineken Cup slot just three weeks back, but there are only two points now separating themselves, Bayonne and Biarritz.