Bayonne hand Toulon their first home defeat for two seasons, Perpignan avenge Clermont, Racing win at Brive and Toulouse and Stade Francais put on try-fests as the 2010/11 Top 14 season kicks off in style

Toulon 22 Bayonne 26, Brive 18 Racing-Metro 23, Perpignan 21 Clermont 13, Toulouse 44 Agen 24, Biarritz 30 Montpellier 22, Stade Francais 43 Bourgoin 12, La Rochelle 22 Castres 17 - See the latest league table

Toulon 22 Bayonne 26

Bayonne made a mockery of the pre-match predictions by handing Toulon their first home defeat in 18 months on the opening night of the new Top 14 season.

Toulon had new signings George Smith, Rudi Wulf, Paul Sackey and Carl Hayman on show, but it was Bayonne debutant Yoann Huget who stole the show, scoring an early try to give the visitors an unexpected lead and scoring the winner six minutes from time to seal the win after Felipe Contepomi had kicked Toulon back into contention.

Contepomi had put Toulon ahead with an easy 4th minute penalty, but when Benjamin Lapeyre spilled an up-and-under from sky blue newcomer Benjamin Boyet, Huget, a summer arrival from Agen, gathered the ball and raced through the Toulon defence to score. Boyet made it 7-3 with the conversion, his first Top 14 points since arriving from Bourgoin.

Despite long periods of Toulon pressure, Boyet made it 10-3 with a 55-metre penalty on 27 minutes, and five minutes later it was 13-3 after Toulon were penalised at a Bayonne line-out.

Contepomi added two penalties before the break for a competitive 13-9 interval lead, and went on the attack straight from the kick off. Contepomi missed a drop goal attempt, but Toulon had the advantage five minutes into the half when Boyet was shown a yellow card for being caught offside three metres from the line. Contepomi missed the penalty and saw his grubber for Sackey roll into touch just a yard from the tryline, but reduced the gap to a single point when Toulon's pack won a penalty on 50 minutes.

With Boyet off, it was left to Julien Audy to restore the three-point lead, but the Basques were down to 14 men again when veteran prop Denis Avril took the yellow for the pack's constant backpedalling. Toulon opted for a scrum and piled forward, Smith seemingly grounding the ball in goal but the video referee denying the Australian the try.

Toulon milked the man advantage with a series of scrums but had to wait until the fourth pack-down before the referee awarded a penalty try, Contepomi converting easy for a 19-16 lead.

Boyet tied the scores on 68 minutes but Contepomi restored the three-point lead after Bayonne made a mess of the restart. It was Toulon's turn to make a hash of things a minute later when a Bayonne hack at a loose ball saw several players give chase only for a Toulon player to pull a visitor down without the ball. To make matters worse, Toulon were sent back into their own half by the touch judge, and opted to kick to the corner. From the line-out, Huget cut inside Boyet and charged over for the try, which Boyet converted.

Toulon then laid siege to the Bayonne half. First Mafileo Kefu knocked the ball on from 40 metres out, then Bayonne's defence held out as Toulon gave their all. It wasn't over, however, as Toulon kept the ball alive for a full eight minutes after the siren. Lapeyre had a chance to put Sackey over but knocked on, and even though Toulon were handed a penalty in front of the posts, the four-point gap forced them to take the scrum, and although they tried to keep the ball in hand, another knock-on signalled the end of their hopes and sparked celebrations of an unlikely win among the visitors.

For Bayonne, it's early proof that their summer signings have gelled more quickly than coach Thomas Lievremont could have hoped. For Toulon, it's another question mark over their temperament - they'll need no reminding that it's their third competitive game in a row (after the Top 14 semi-final and Amlin Cup final) where they failed to convert pressure and possession into a victory.

Brive 18 Racing-Metro 23

The opening night's other away win was less of a surprise but an early success on the road will still please Francilien coach Pierre Berbizier as he builds on last season's sixth place.

Outside-half Jonathan Wisniewski kept Andrew Mehrtens on the bench last season and served notice to new signing Juan Martin Hernandez that he will have to fight for the jersey by scoring 18 of the visitors'points at Stade Amedée-Domenech. He wasted no time in getting off the mark either, his new scrum-half partner Nicolas Durand making the first break of the game and putting Wis over for the try.

Benjamin Fall went close on 10 minutes but was pulled down by two desperate Brive tacklers, and Wisniewski made it 10-0 with his first penalty on 18 minutes, before Fabrice Estebanez got the hosts off the mark on 26 minutes for a 10-3 scoreline which held until the interval, that despite the yellow card handed to Racing lock Santiago Dellape and a subsequent refused video referral for a Brive pushover try.

Brive pulled themselves back into the game after the break, Estebanez adding a second penalty and Alexis Palisson knocking over another to make it 10-9. Wisniewski added three points before, on 63 minutes, Brive winger Vilimone Waqaseduadua failed to gather a crossfield kick and flanker Jacques Cronje pounced on the loose ball to race in and score.

At 20-9 the game seemed to be up, but another Racing yellow card, ths one for Fijian flanker Jone Qovu, opened up the game and gave Palisson the chance to add three late penalties to earn a bonus point for a Brive side that on this form could struggle to achieve the comfortable form of recent seasons.

Perpignan 21 Clermont 13

Perpignan gained some measure of revenge for their final defeat in May by seeing off a determined Clermont team at Stade Aimé-Giral. The Catalans were clinging on to a five-point lead when lock Guillaume Vilaceca was dismissed for stepping on the head of USAP's Thibaut Privat 10 minutes from time, but Clermont's Elvis Vermeulen lost the advantage for the visitors five minutes later when he saw yellow for a technical infringement. Jerome Porical kicked his fifth penalty of the evening and Clermont's last attempt at gaining a bonus point ended with another spilled ball in a match every bit as tight as the pair's Paris final.

Clermont did have the honour of scoring the only try of the game, Napolioni Nalaga skipping round Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis to score under the posts after Wesley Fofana had broken through the Catalan defence. That score and Brock James's conversion gave Clermont a one-point lead approaching half time, but two Porical penalties before the break and a drop goal in each half from David Melé meant Clermont were always chasing the game, and USAP's players celebrated at the final whistle as though they'd regained the Bouclier de Brennus itself.

Toulouse 44 Agen 24

The Top 14 season had opened earlier in the evening with an uncharacteristically open Garonne derby. Far from the up-the-maillot clashes of old, Toulouse and Agen shared 68 points and nine tries between them, Toulouse retaining a three-try advantage to pick up a bonus point.

William Servat earned the honour of scoring the first try of the season on 13 minutes, fittingly a well-worked team try, the ball passing through numerous phases before the hooker barged over the line from three metres.

Agen should have struck back at once but for a Cedric Heymans' intervention that denied Brice Dulin a try just as he was crossing the line. A superb but simple break from the back of a scrum on the halfway line saw full-back Guillaume Cazeau burst into the Toulouse half, draw his man and put Dulin in the for the try. But Heymans thought otherwise, racing up behind the winger and thumping the ball from the crook of his arm as he prepared to ground it.

Valentin Courrent notched his first Top 14 penalty for his new club on 20 minutes, but Toulouse extended their lead five minutes later with a try a la Toulousaine. Scrum-half Nicolas Vergallo cut open the Agen defence with a slipped pass to Heymans, who drew Cazeaux and fed to Yann David, the stocky centre stepping through Dulin's try-saving tackle to score.

Two more tries in two minutes effectively ended the match as a contest. 15 metres in front of goal David Skrela appeared to be shaping for a drop, only for him to punt it high over the posts and watch as Dulin was beaten to the high ball by Yannick Jauzion.

A minute later it was four tries to nil, Vegallo putting up a box kick from the restarting ruck that caused chaos in Agen's touchline defence. Maxime Medard hacked the loose ball on, caught the ball's lukcy bounce and raced in to ground in the corner.

Agen did respond in similar fashion before the interval, Cazeaux hacking a loose Louis Picamoles ball on halfway, Sylvain Dupuy gathering and slipping a neat pass to winger Romain Edmond-Samuel, who raced in under the posts for Courrent to convert for a 27-10 interval score.

A Skrela penalties after the break put Toulouse 30-10 up before Clement Poitrenaud added a fifth try, Heymans taking a quick line-out on the halfway line, Skrela slipping a cheeky inside pass to Jean Bouilhou who seemed to draw the Agen defence like a magnet before putting Poitrenaud in under the posts.

Toulouse's sixth was Medard's second, a simple by effective ball along the line being taken on by Skrela and diverted by another slip pass Poitrenaud to Medard.

That was that from the hosts, who allowed Agen a couple of late consolation scores. The hosts themselves would have been proud of the first, hooker Brice Mach setting up a ruck, Dupuy slinging a long pass to Conrad Barnard, whose sleight of hand slipped a swift pass to Miguel Avramovic, breaching the Toulouse centres to canter in under the posts.

The final word went to Edmond-Samuel five minutes from time. After some scrappy play Barnard flung a high pass to Dulin on the wing, and although he was boxed in a cheek grubber was gathered by Edmond-Samuel, who shook off two tackles to score.

Guy Noves will be delighted that his Toulouse side are firing so early in the season, while Agen, while disappointed to have leaked so many tries over the course of the first hour, know they have the skill, especially among the backs, to break through the strongest defences over the weeks to come.

Biarritz 30 Montpellier 22

Montpellier taught Biarritz a lesson in concentration as they bounced back from a 21-3 half-time deficit to come within a point of a losing bonus at Stade Aguilera. Winger Philippe Bidabe broke a 19-month drought with the first try on six minutes, before Erik Lund crashed through the Montpellier defence to set up Julien Peyrelongue for the second on 26 minutes. Dimitri Yachvili added 11 points with the boot, Francois Trinh-Duc's second-minute penalty representing Montpellier's only contribution to the half.

It took less than 10 minutes of the second half for the visitors to bring the game back to life. First winger Jean-Mathieu Alcade benefited from a two-on-one overlap to score a minute into the second period, then Fijian No.8 Sakiusa Matadigo crossed from a counter attack after Biarritz full back Marcelo Bosch had failed to find touch.

Montpellier's hopes of a come back faded when Georgian flanker Mamuka Gorgodze was yellow carded for a shoulder barge on 57 minutes, and the boot of Yachvili kept Biarritz comfortably ahead. But it was the visitors who had the last word, Pierre Berard crossing after a long sequence of pick and goes. Although he was in a good position, Santiago Fernandez missed the conversion and with it a bonus point, a sour note for the visitors to end on after a creditable second-half performance.

Stade Francais 43 Bourgoin 12

Rumours of the death of Stade Francais have been greatly exaggerated. As for Bourgoin, we're sure there's still time for them to enrol in this season's Pro D2 campaign.

Not that the Parisians had it their own way before they scored five tries that made them early Top 14 leaders. A tight first-half saw Julien Dupuy and Alberto di Bernardo exchange penalties before Dupuy gave Stade a 9-6 lead on 16 minutes. Even a man advantage couldn't swing the game Stade's way when Bourgoin centre Brando Va'Aulu took the yellow for a succession of team indiscipline, and soon after the Australian returned Bourgoin's Matias Viazzo tied the score at 9-9.

That would mark the end of Bourgoin's resistance, as a minute before half-time the Parisian pack advanced on the Easterners' try line, hooker Dimitri Szarzewski holding off visiting No.8 Camille Levast to reach out and touch down. Dupuy converted.

Paris wasted no time after the break, Mathieu Bastaread opening his account for the season and taking two players down with him as he scored a try on 42 minutes, and although Viazzo closed the gap to 23-12 from 35 metres shortly after, Sergio Parisse stretched the advantage, grounding at the back of a scrum-five shove on 49 minutes.

On the hour, a tap penalty by Parisse set up a try for Julien Arias, and eight minutes from time, Hugo Southwell completed the rout, Lionel Beauxis drawing his man and putting the scotsman over for the hosts' fifth try at their temporary Stade Charlety home.

La Rochelle 22 Castres 17

In Saturday's only game, Castres piled the pressure on La Rochelle but the Top 14 newcomers held on to record an impressive win.

An explosive start saw La Rochelle go 12-3 up inside 15 minutes thanks to tries from full back Sebastien Boboul and scrum-half Benjamin Ferrou. La Rochelle veteran Boboul profited from a charge by prop Tamato Leopolu to take the Samoan's pass on the line and score, while Ferrou's try was all his own work, tapping a quick penalty, spotting the gap and racing over under the posts.

La Rochelle also had a try appeal refused when Thomas Combezou touched down, but the video referee ruled that Marc Andreu had been first to the ball.

At 12-3 up La Rochelle found themselves under pressure for the first time, holding out even after replacement prop Franco Pani had been yellow carded after folding under the pressure of the visitors pack.

Boboul missed a penalty just before half-time, but with Pani still absent, Castres finally scored a try of their own five minutes into the second half, Josefa Tekori taking a quick tap penalty and barging his way over the try line. Seremaia Bai converted to make it 12-10, but Tekori soon turned villain, giving away three points a few minutes later, seeing yellow and seeing Boboul extend the hosts' lead after a high tackle on Combezou.

Castres continued to pressurise but failed to take advantage, mainly becuase Bai had clearly left his kicking boots back in Clermont. Despite starting well with a first-minute penalty, he Fijian had missed all four of his subsequent attempts at goal, a lack of accuracy that was to prove costly when La Rochelle scored their third try on 66 minutes.

Outside-half Remi Tales was the author of the score, taking a pass from scrum-half Ferrou and putting over a perfect kick for winger Norman Ligairi. The winger beat opposite number Romain Martial to the high ball and raced in for his first top-flight try since he scored a hat-trick for Brive against Stade Montois in October 2008.

Ligairi's countryman Seru Rabeni came close to opening his Top 14 account on 72 minutes, pouncing on Cameron McIntyre's spilt ball to dash towards the line only for Castres' flanker Ibrahim Diarra to tackle him as he crossed the line and release the ball from Rabeni's grasp.

That kept La Rochelle 22-10 ahead, but their comfort zone was soon narrowed on 74 minutes when prop Andres Bordoy was yellow carded for a high tackle on Marc Andreu. Two minutes later, the extra man told as flanker Chris Masoe found space to break from the base of a scrum 40 metres out and linked with Bai to send McIntyre through the gap and under the posts.

Bai converted to earn Castres a bonus point and three minutes into injury time they could have stolen all four points. McIntyre's kick ahead found Andreu who slipped an inside pass to Florian Denos. But the full-back was pulled down five metres from the tryline and La Rochelle could start celebrating a famous win.

For Castres, they'll have to be happy with a bonus point, but it's already a far cry from the opening of last season, when they pulled off a shock win of their own at Biarritz.