30 December 2009: USAP lock's gifted try makes Toulouse's day, Racing make it nine in a row and Castres start 2010 on top

Toulouse 22  Perpignan 11;  Bayonne 19 Racing-Metro 23; Biarritz 23 Bourgoin 6; Castres 30 Montauban 7; Clermont 52 Brive 10; Toulon 41 Albi 13; Montpellier 25 Stade Francais 23 - Latest league table

Perpignan lock Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis handed Toulouse a late Christmas present eight minutes from the end of a tight encounter when his tryline pass for Jerome Porical to clear was snaffled by Clement Poitrenaud. The Toulouse full back raced under the posts to give the hosts a two-score lead and end Perpignan's hopes of a victory at Stadium de Toulouse.

David Skrela added a drop goal three minutes from time to seal the 22-11 win, but for long periods the outcome of this top-six clash was in the balance. Perpignan had scored the game's first try, flanker Gerrie Britz popping up on the wing on 18 minutes to take the pass from Nicolas Durand and score in the corner. Porical couldn't convert to give USAP the lead after early scores from Skrela (drop, 8min) and Freddie Michalak (penalty, 12min), and Michalak's second successful kick on the half-hour made it 9-5 at the break.

Porical reduced the deficit to a point on 43 minutes, and traded penalties with Michalak to make it 12-11 going into the last 10 minutes. Toulouse - who had been up against an enterprising USAP backline for much of the half - finally put the visitors under pressure, and it was Alvarez-Kairelis who cracked to gift-wrap the try for Poitrenaud.

Toulouse leapfrog Perpignan into fourth place, just behind Racing-Metro, who made it nine wins in a row with a 23-19 victory at Bayonne. The Basques have injury worries to add to their relegation woes, and with both Benjamin Fall and Pepito Elhorga missing from the back line, Manny Edmonds played full back, his third starting position of the season after already covering both half-back spots this term.

Despite the close score, Bayonne only once held the lead all game, Cedric Garcia's second penalty on 20 minutes cancelling out Jonathan Wisniewki's early penalty for a 6-3 lead. But it didn't last long. Wisniewski slotted over the equaliser from 10 metres in front of the posts, before Racing's Fijian flanker Jone Qovu went over in the corner. Wisniewski fielded a Garcia up-and-under, fed Sebastien Chabal who charged at the Bayonne defence and fed Qovu for the try.

Garcia made it 9-11 with a penalty before the break, and traded kicks with Wisniewski before the Racing fly-half was sinbinned for pulling Bayonne centre Craig Gower down by the collar when the two were chasing a grubber kick. In his absence, the ever-reliable Fabien Fortassin kicked his seventh drop goal of the season and added a penalty to give the Parisians a 20-12 lead.

But just as the match seemed to be ebbing away from the hosts, Bayonne centre Thibault Lacroix pounced on a loose ball and sent Vincent Inigo upfield. The winger was brought down short, but from the resulting scrum, Garcia threw a long pass to Lacroix, who drew his man and fed Jean-Baptiste Peyras. He rounded the last defender to score and when Garcia added the conversion, it was 20-19 with 15 minutes to play.

Racing responded, and Bayonne's Remy Martin prevented an instant reposte when he squeezed under three Parisians as they pounced on a loose ball in-goal. Bayonne did earn posession in the dying seconds, but a stern Racing defence refused to let them past the halfway line, and a solo break by Parisian winger Julien Saubade resulted in a touchline penalty that Wisniewski converted to seal the win and make it nine on the bounce for Racing, who will hope to take that run into double-figures when Bourgoin arrive in Paris on Sunday.

Bayonne gain a point on the Easterners, who lost 23-6 at Biarritz. They held their own for much of the first half, a penalty and drop goal from Benjamin Boyet matching Dimitri Yachvili's two penalties as the first half ticked away. But Samoan lock Pelu Taele scored his first try for the Basques just before the interval, and Valentin Courrent's penalty after the break made it 16-6 to Biarritz. The visitors were forced to play out the last seven minutes with 14 men following lock Albin Louchard's late dismissal, and Courrent put a degree of respectability on the scoreline when he scored Biarritz's second try a minute from time.

Castres also left it relatively late before seeing off Montauban 30-7 to retain the top spot. The hosts led only 9-7 at half time, winger Shannon Paku scoring the only try of the half after nine minutes for the visitors. Romain Teulet's three penalties gave Castres a slender half-time lead, and the gap remained at two points until the floodgates opened in the last quarter. Chris Masoe, Iosefa Tekori and Yoan Audrin all scored in a 15-minute spell before the final whistle, Teulet converting all three to give the final score the look of a rout that doesn't reflect the match as a whole.

Clermont's 52-10 defeat of Brive, however, is exactly the crushing defeat the scoreline suggests. Les Auvergnats scored seven tries through Brent Russell, Julien Malzieu, Kevin Senio, Wesley Fofana, Mario Ledesma, Lionel Faure and Gavin Williams, the last coming in the final minute after Brive outside-half Luciano Orquera had had the temerity to claim a 77th minute consolation. Brock James converted all seven and added a drop goal to bring his tally for the season to 160 points, in second place behind Toulon's Jonny Wilkinson.

Wilkinson kicked 19 points in Toulon's 41-13 defeat of Albi. Two tries from the visitors - the opening score from full back Benjamin Lapeyre and a second-half try by drop Matekitonga Moeakiola - denied their hosts a bonus point, and Toulon had to rely on Wilkinson's boot until the stroke of half-time, when winger Christian Loamanu finally added points to pressure to make it 22-8 at the interval.

Juan Martin Fernandez-Lobbe extended the lead on 47 minutes with Toulon's second try, before a series of pick-and-goes by Albi saw Moeakiola's try close the gap. Toulon had the last words though, prop Saimone Taumopeau crashing over on 72 minutes, and Samoan flanker Fotu Auelua making it four on the final whistle.

Toulon stay in sixth, three points ahead of Stade Francais, who lost 23-25 at Montpellier after the hosts came back from 23-9 down to record their eighth win of the season. Federico Todeschini was the hero of the hour, kicking the winning penalty three minutes from the end of an enthralling encounter.

The scores were tied at six-all at half time, Todeschni's two penalties matching a drop and penalty by Lionel Beauxis, but the Parisian visitors appeared to have run away with in as the hour approached. First Beauxis made it 9-6 with an early penalty, then centre Geoffroy Messina bagged a seven-minute brace, Beauxis converting both for that 23-9 scoreline.

Todeschni's fourth penalty made it 23-12, and it was game on when replacement hooker Joan Caudullo romped in on 63 minutes for a four-point gap. Todeschini made it un jeu un-point with 10 minutes on the clock, and his sixth and final penalty pinched the win for Montpellier, who have now won as many matches as Clermont, but sit eight places behind them thanks to their inability to earn valuable bonus points. Stade's single bonus point from this game will be little comfort in what is another frustrating season for them.