Brive end long wait
Brive claimed their first French Top 14 away victory since February 2012 when they defeated Montpellier 25-10 on Friday.
Montpellier could have gone into the top four with a win, but their fourth successive loss in all competitions was greeted by a chorus of boos from their disgruntled fans.
It took Montpellier an hour to get on the scoreboard through a penalty from replacement Teddy Iribaren and their lone try scored by No.8 Alexandre Bias came nine minutes from time.
In contrast, Brive never looked back from the moment that Fijian wing Benito Masilevu sprinted and weaved his way to a fifth-minute try for his sixth score of the season after being released by a sharp pass from Nicolas Bezy.
Brive extended their lead to 13-0 by the interval with Gaetan Germain kicking the conversion and two penalties as he went through the 100-point barrier for the Top 14 season.
Montpellier's scrumhalf Jonathan Pelissie was handed kicking duties and he missed two comfortable kicks in the first half, the rustiness of having only booted seven previous attempts this season cruelly exposed.
Bezy added two drop goals after the break with Germain succeeding with another brace of penalties as Brive moved up to mid-table.
Result: Montpellier 10 Brive 25
Other weekend fixtures:
(Saturday, November 8; Kick-off is 19.00 GMT unless stated):
Castres v Toulon (13.45)
Clermont v Stade Francais
Grenoble v Lyon
Oyonnax v La Rochelle
Racing-Metro v Bayonne
Bordeaux-Begles v Toulouse (19.45)
Top 14 table after Friday's match (played, won, drawn, lost, points for, points against, bonus points, total points):
Toulon 10 7 0 3 326 189 5 33
Clermont 10 7 0 3 242 173 3 31
Stade Francais 10 7 0 3 234 224 3 31
Bordeaux 10 6 0 4 296 233 3 27
Montpellier 11 6 0 5 226 201 2 26
Racing Metro 10 5 0 5 225 218 5 25
Grenoble 10 5 0 5 252 302 4 24
Toulouse 10 5 0 5 227 200 3 23
Brive 11 5 0 6 231 276 2 22
Bayonne 10 4 0 6 214 206 5 21
La Rochelle 10 4 0 6 220 295 3 19
Lyon 10 4 0 6 181 248 1 17
Oyonnax 10 3 0 7 201 226 4 16
Castres 10 3 0 7 202 286 3 15
Source: AFP
