28 January 2010: Sky blues beat reds 15-0 in the big midweek match - is this the start of the great escape?

Bayonne 15 Biarritz 0; Perpignan 49 Bourgoin 20; Brive 19 Montauban 14; Castres 32 Stade Francais 14; Racing-Metro 33 Clermont 24; Albi 6 Toulouse 24; Toulouse 31 Montpellier 19 - Latest league table

Bayonne gave their faltering season a big boost by beating Biarritz 15-0 in a tense Basque derby. The blue side of the Pays Basques scored two tries to secure only their second Top 14 win in 10 matches and close in on 12th placed Bourgoin.

The hosts, playing their first league match under interim coach Christian Gajan, went out all guns blazing, Biarritz full back Ian Balshaw being put under pressure from high kicks in the early stages and the visitors' scrum struggling under the determined weight of the light blue pack. Red lock Pelu Taele saw yellow for a high tackle on winger Jean-Baptiste Peyras, but Cedric Garcia missed the touchline penalty and when Bayonne pulled down a maul on 17 minutes, opposite number Valentin Courrent fluffed a 40-metre kick.

Garcia finally got the scoreboard moving on 24 minutes, kicking a penalty awarded for offside, and although he missed a 45-metre effort three minutes later, Peyras scored the opening try of the night soon after, Manny Edmonds, starting at fly-half for the first time this season, dummying past Courrent and flipping a pass for the winger to score. Garcia converted for a 10-0 lead.

Bayonne held the advantage to half time, despite a close call for Biarritz winger Takudzwa Ngwenya, who won a chip and chase only for teammate Balshaw to be pinged for pushing Peyras out of the way.

Biarritz came out stronger in the second half, but although they were restricted to a single long-range drop-goal attempt by Edmonds, the Australian outside-half extended the home lead on 54 minutes, again showing Courrent the outside before darting in under the posts from short range.

Biarritz's main concerns in the second period were the injuries to Imanol Harinordoquy and Jerome Thion, but both sides could have claimed bonus points in the dying minutes. First Ayoola Erinle's interception breakaway was ended by a massive tackle from Pepito Elhorga, and then in the second minute of injury time, Sam Gerber was inches away from touching down a cheeky chip from lock Rob Linde.

The good news is that Bayonne are only two points behind Bourgoin with a game in hand. The bad news is that the game in hand - to be played next Friday at Stade Jean-Dauger - is against Perpignan, 49-20 victors over the easterners on Thursday night.

The Catalans scored six tries to two, David Marty, Joffrey Michel, Henry Tuilagi and Christophe Manas scoring before the break for a 34-10 half-time lead. Hooker Guilhem Guirado and a second for Michel completed the rout in the last 10 minutes, before Jean-Francois Coux scored a late try for Bourgoin to add to John Senio's 20th minute touchdown.

Nicolas Laharrague, now USAP's only registered outside-half, added 19 points with the boot as Perpignan rose to fourth in the table, just five points off leaders Castres with that Bayonne game in hand.

Montauban have found themselves dragged into the drop-zone dogfight, and despite picking up a late bonus point in losing 14-19 at Brive, have played two games more than Bayonne, who also have a visit to Bourgoin to catch up on.

Wednesday night's match looked set to be a try-fest after 10 minutes, but after an explosive start the match became a kicking contest between two strong defensive teams.

Brive outside half Fabrice Estebanez burst through the visitors' defence and took a handful of tacklers over the line with him after just three minutes, but Montauban's Leonard Olivier pulled back three points with a fifth-minute penalty before winger Andy Henderson gave the visitors the lead, scoring in the corner after a superb team move.

Brive winger Alexis Palisson and Olivier exchanged penalties before a big shove saw Antonie Claassen break from the back of a scrum five and cross the line, only for the referee to decide, without video assistance, that he hadn't grounded the ball.

Palisson kicked Brive into a 13-11 lead on the stroke of half time, and added two more before the halfway point of a lacklustre second half.

With only four minutes left, Henderson had a chance of a second try, intercepting a pass on the halfway line but running out of gas to be caught with 10 metres to go. But although Olivier missed a 79th minute penalty, another Brive transgression in the final minute gave Cedric Rosalen a final chance, which he took from 25 metres to win Montauban a hard-earned bonus point.

Castres went clear at the top of the league on Wednesday night, coming back from 14-9 down at half time to beat Stade Francais 32-14. Romain Teulet and Lionel Beauxis exchanged early penalties before a superb flowing move by the Parisians ended with centre Geoffroy Messina sprinting over in the corner for an 11-6 lead.

Ignacio Mieres kicked a third penalty for Stade but Teulet matched it for the 14-9 half-time scoreline. The hosts didn't take long to close the gap after the interval, Iosefa Tekori going on the rampage and almost putting winger Marc Andreu over from the restart. The Parisians' only tactic was to kill ball, and prop Rayno Gerber paid the price with a yellow card. From the resulting penalty/line-out, Castres' pack went on the charge and Chris Masoe, who earlier in the day had re-signed with the club, scored the equalising try.

Teulet converted from the touchline for a 16-14 lead, and Castres began to dominate as their taking-it-easy Challenge Cup tactics paid off in terms of fitness against the Heineken-weary Parisians. Teulet added three more penalties before Pars had any kind of chance, winger Julien Arias cutting through the home defence only to be caught two metres from the line by Andreu.

Andreu almost scored himself after following up Masoe's break, but won a scrum after being held up short of the line, and a huge shove from the home pack forced the Parisian pack to buckle and left referee M. Péchambert with a straightforward award of a penalty try.

Castres go four points clear of Clermont, who lost 33-24 at Racing-Metro. And it wasn't even as close as it looks, as the other Parisians scored three first-half tries to take a 27-0 lead back into the changing rooms.

Henry Chavancy, Dan Scarbrough and Sireli Bobo scored Racing's tries, and we can only assume that Pierre Berbizier's men revived the champagne quaffing traditions of old as, after Francois Steyn's 47th minute penalty made it 30-0, Clermont came to life and went looking for the bonus point. First Seremaia Bai kicked a penalty, then lock Loic Jacquet scored a try to deny Racing their bonus.

In the last 10 minutes Gavin Williams and then Anthony Floch, assisted by Bai's boot, closed the gap, but Jonathan Wisniewski's earlier penalty left the margin at an agonising nine points, and Clermont's inability to grab a late penalty meant they left Paris with nothing but a sore arse from their fall back to earth after their H-Cup successes earlier in the week.

Racing stay in fifth, while Clermont feel the heat of Toulouse's breath on the back of their yellow and blue necks after they won 24-6 at Albi on Thursday. Patricio Albacete's try cancelled out Kevin Boulogne's early penalty for the troubled hosts, before Toulouse struck in the second half, Yoann Maestri and Cedric Heymans scoring to pick up a bonus point before Maxime Medard's 80th minute try completed the rout.

Toulon's 31-19 win over Montpellier was far from comfortable despite the hosts dashing into a 14-0 lead after just nine minutes. Centre Mafi Kefu and flanker Fotu Auelua scored the early tries that Felipe Contepomi converted, but Toulon found themselves just a point ahead at the interval. First Federico Todeschini kicked two penalties for les Heraultais before converting No.8 Sakiusa Matadigo's try on the stroke of half-time.

Things got worse for Toulon when Olivier Sarramea kicked a 40-metre drop goal nine minutes into the second half. But hopes of a notable away win were soon dashed when Rory Lamont scored Toulon's third try a minute later, replacement scrum-half Fabien Cibray putting Contepomi clear on the blindside. The Argentinan fed the returning Sonny Bill Williams, who drew his man and sent the Scotsman over for the try.

Contepomi converted for a 21-16 lead, which he extended to 24-16 with a penalty on 66 minutes. Todeschini replied in kind to raise Pellier hopes of a bonus point, but Toulon stole the extras when Contepomi's up-and-under created havoc in the visitors' defence and Olivier Missoup trotted in to score.

The evening ended with Toulon lock Joselito Suta seeing red for throwing a fearsome left hook  at Montpellier hooker Joan Caudullo, but by then the contest was over and Toulon had opened up a significant five-point lead over sixth-placed Brive.