Oyonnax stunned Clermont Auvergne at the Stade Marcel-Michelin and Toulon capitalised by winning away in Grenoble, while Brive picked up a vital victory over relegation rivals Lyon.
Oyonnax stun Clermont
Oyonnax boosted their hopes of reaching the play-offs with a fantastic 11-10 win over Clermont Auvergne at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.
Bejamin Urdapilleta's penalty with five minutes remaining ended Clermont's 12-game unbeaten streak at home, with the hosts changing all of the starting 15 that thrashed Northampton in the Champions Cup.
Clermont led 7-3 at the interval thanks to Peceli Yato's 28th-minute try, with Brock James converting after replacing Mike Delany early on.
The visitors took the lead when former Northampton prop Soane Tonga'uiha touched down on 54 minutes, but a James penalty nine minutes from time looked to have secured victory for Clermont.
However, Urdapilleta had the final say, slotting his second penalty late on clinch a shock victory.
Toulon triumph in Grenoble
Toulon moved clear at the Top 14 summit courtesy of a 35-24 victory over Grenoble at the Stade des Alpes.
The defending champions were outscored by four tries to two but the boots of Leigh Halfpenny, Delon Armitage and Frederic Michalak secured victory.
Rory Grice crossed for a third-minute try for the hosts but Toulon hit back through a Matt Giteau touchdown, with Leigh Halfpenny kicking the conversion and two penalties.
Nigel Hunt’s converted try put Grenoble back in front on the half hour but a Halfpenny penalty and Bryan Habana try left them trailing 23-14 at the interval.
Armitage kicked three quick-fire penalties to cancel out Jackson Willison’s try, and Michalak kicked their eighth successful penalty with nine minutes remaining.
Albertus Buckle scored a fourth try for Grenoble late on but it was scant consolation for the hosts.
Racing held by Montpellier
Johan Goosen missed a last-minute penalty as Racing Metro were held to a 24-24 draw by Montpellier in Colombes.
Antoine Claasen and Maxime Machenaud both scored tries in either half but Montpellier battled back for a share of the spoils, scoring 14 unanswered points in the final 19 minutes.
Racing led 14-10 at the interval thanks to tries from Claasen and Machenaud on 12 and 19 minutes respectively, with Jonny Sexton adding the extras on both occasions.
Milheil Nariashvili crossed for the visitors on 32 minutes but further tries from No 8 Claasen and scrum-half Machenaud after the restart looked to have secured victory for Racing.
However, Lucas landed two penalties before Timoci Nagusa scored a superb individual try after beating several Racing defenders.
Lucas kicked his fourth penalty with one minute remaining before Goosen missed a late chance to snatch the win.
Brive edge out Lyon
Gaetan Germain kicked 17 points as Brive registered a narrow 22-20 victory over relegation rivals Lyon.
The full-back kicked five penalties and converted Benito Masilevu’s 47th-minute try to put daylight between themselves and Lyon, who remain bottom of the table.
George Smith scored his first Lyon try on 25 minutes to help them into a 10-6 half-time lead, and they extended their advantage early in the second period through Waisea Sukanaveita's converted try.
However, Brive replied through Masilevu and three straight penalties from Germain to clinch their 10th league win of the season.
Picamoles breaks Bayonne’s hearts
Louis Picamoles' 77th-minute try snatched a 20-17 win for Toulouse over Bayonne at the Stade Ernest Wallon.
The visitors looked on course for victory thanks to Joe Rokocoko’s first-half try and penalties from Martin Bustos Moyano (3) and Scott Spedding, but Picamoles’ converted score keeps them in play-off contention.
Moyana had opened the scoring before Patricio Albacete responded for the hosts with the game’s opening try, but Bayonne led at the interval thanks after Rokocko touched down on 35 minutes.
Luke McAlister kicked a penalty on the hour mark which was cancelled out by France international Spedding, but Picamoles’ late show snatched victory, with Jean-Marc Doussain kicking the conversion.
Castres claim crucial victory
Castres kept their Top 14 survival hopes alive with a 22-20 victory over Bordeaux Begles at Stade Pierre Antoine.
The visitors raced into an early 10-0 lead thanks to a Pierre Bernard penalty and Julien Rey’s try, the latter the result of some terrible defending.
But Castres then sparked into life, with wings Sitiveni Sivivatu and Rémy Grosso slicing through the defence at will.
It was Grosso who got Castres off the mark on 30 minutes when he cut through a gap in the Bordeaux defence, with Geoffrey Palis adding the extras before adding three more points seven minutes later.
Bordeaux lock Berend Botha was fortunate to only receive a yellow card for a shoulder charge, but Palis slotted the resultant penalty to push Castres into the lead for the first time.
Palis added another penalty on 50 minutes to put his side 16-10 up, but the majority of the second half was a cagey affair and turned into a kicking battle.
Bordeaux replacement Baptiste Serin halved their deficit with 12 minutes remaining, but Castres looked to have sealed victory and denied their opponents a losing bonus point when Julien Dumora sent over two penalties.
However, Bordeaux hit back through Blair Connor, whose last-minute try to set up a grandstand finish. Fortunately for Castres, they held on to move out of the relegation zone.