Montpellier move up after Oyonnax win
Quentin Etienne kicked Oyonnax into an early lead, but Montpellier replied with the opening two of four tries through Australian fullback Ben Lucas and former Springbok Under-20 lock Paul Willemse, both converted by South African flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis.
Oyonnax, whose chances of avoiding the drop back down into ProD2 seem more than slim, scored a try of their own through South African hooker Jody Jenneker, converted by Etienne.
But Montpellier, featuring just eight French players in their match-day 23, put the game out of the home side's reach with two more tries from France wing Benjamin Fall and Springbok prop Bismarck du Plessis, Catrakilis converting both and also notching up a penalty to wrap up a convincing victory.
The result means Montpellier leapfrog Toulouse into fifth place on 50 points. Top 14 leaders Racing 92 made the most of Stade Francais' indiscipline to romp to a bonus point 34-16 victory in the Parisian derby on Saturday.
Champions Stade slumped to a third straight defeat that keeps them just one place above the relegation zone and almost certainly out of contention for the end of season play-offs.
Clermont stayed second and a point behind Racing after defeating local rivals Brive 25-6 with all the game's points coming in the first half. European champions Toulon, surprisingly defeated 14-19 by La Rochelle last week, hit back with a bonus-point 38-8 stroll past Grenoble.
Toulon ran in six tries with Wallaby wing Drew Mitchell grabbing a brace and All Blacks legend Ma'a Nonu also on the scoresheet. Toulon stay third, two points off the lead, but have played a game more.
Castres stayed in contention for a play-off spot with a 50-6 win over relegation-haunted Agen, which saw Samoan wing David Smith grab four of his team's seven tries. On Friday, Toulouse were held to a 13-13 draw at home to Bordeaux, who are now unbeaten in five and sit fourth in the table.
Top 14 results:
Oyonnax 10-31 Montpellier
Stade Francais 16-34 Racing
Clermont 25-6 Brive
La Rochelle 35-16 Pau
Castres 50-6 Agen
Toulon 38-8 Grenoble
Toulouse 13-13 Bordeaux-Begles
Top 14 table:
(played, won, drawn, lost, points for, points against, bonus points, penalties, total points)
Racing 92 17 13 1 3 390 302 5 59
Clermont 17 11 1 5 482 285 12 58
Toulon 18 11 0 7 556 327 13 57
Bordeaux 18 11 2 5 390 320 4 52
Montpellier 17 11 0 6 432 395 6 50
Toulouse 17 9 2 6 434 269 8 48
Castres 17 9 0 8 393 338 7 43
La Rochelle 17 8 0 9 373 370 8 40
Brive 17 8 1 8 311 333 4 38
Grenoble 17 7 0 10 411 483 5 33
Pau 17 6 1 10 264 448 2 28
Stade Francais 17 6 0 11 323 388 2 26
Agen 17 3 0 14 328 530 3 15
Oyonnax 17 3 0 14 279 578 2 14
Agence France-Presse
