The miracle of Lourdes wasn't to be, as Le Bugue lost 8-12 and other results didn't go their way anyway. Play-downs it is...

Lourdes 12 Le Bugue 8: We prayed, but it wasn't to be. Not only did our Federale 1 favourites Le Bugue fall 8-12 at Lourdes, but the other two results they needed to go their way went against them, with Langon beating Perigueux and Oloron seeing off Graulhet.

In the end, Le Bugue finished six points short of the play-offs, their campaign always an uphill battle after they lost the first six matches of the season. Their first win of the campaign eventually came at home to Lourdes, and thoughts of a repeat remained when Tom Marks' penalty a minute before half-time cancelled out half of Lourdes' lead, two late penalties from Mathieu Pouey breaking the deadlock after 29 minutes of pointless stalemate.

Le Bugue took the lead when winger Morgan Souply raced in for his third try of the season 53 minutes in, but Lourdes responded at once, Pouey kicking a third penalty on 56 minutes and knocking a nail in Le Bugue's play-off coffin 10 minutes from time with his fourth successful kick.

If there's any consolation, it's that les Buguois picked up a losing bonus point to carry forward into the play-downs, where Orthez, Saint-Medard and Epernay await the boys in blue.

Second string: Lourdes B 49 Le Bugue B 16

Also in Pool 6: Oloron 31 Graulhet 8; Langon 11 Perigueux 8; Vallée du Girou 6 Tyrosse 21

Next up: Saint-Médard vs Le Bugue, Stade Robert-Monseau, Sunday 28 February. There's no rest for Le Bugue, who kick off their play-down campaign in Bordeaux on Sunday. The suburb of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles is the historic home of France's gunpowder industry, and with the two clubs level on points after the regular season, the clash at Stade Monseau should be explosive.

Saint-Médard - who spent one season in the top flight back in 1974 - finished seventh in Pool 1, like Le Bugue six points shy of the play-offs and with a W6/L8 record. Their most notable result was a 20-17 win at the home of pool runners-up Saint-Nazaire, but only four home wins from seven should give Le Bugue hope of a winning start to their post-season campaign, and no-one has left Stade Monseau with less than a point since Niort lost 19-11 on the opening day of the season.

Good news for our garcons is that like Orthez and Epernay, Saint-Medard are a little afraid of the try line, with only 11 tries to their credit this season compared to Le Bugue's 23 (Pool E rivals Orthez have scored 12 and Epernay 13). Only flanker/lock Stephan Gugnon has scored more than one try this term, and he's played all but 30 minutes of les Poudriers' - the Powdermen - season. Former Dax centre Duncan Bell has played every second of the year, as has winger Benoit Nicot, whose season-long blank on the try-scoring front tells you all you need to know about the club's style of play.

The news Fed-lines: That's the end of the regular season, with the final play-off/play-down issues sorted on the final weekend. Tightest of all was Pool 1, where Orleans lost 10-11 at Vannes and missed out on the play-offs to Bobigny, who lost 17-19 at Saint-Medard. In Pool 4, La Seyne's comfortable 38-10 win at Chambery was worth nothing in the face of Aubenas-Vals' 30-8 crushing of runaway pool winners Carcassonne, who clearly had their minds on the Trophée Jean-Prat.

The play-off competition sees the top two in each pool progress to the knock-out stage, but the seeding system means there is unlikely to be a 'group of death'. Our favourites to reach the semi-finals are the power quartet of Carcassone, Beziers, Tyrosse and Limoges, who have suffered eight defeats between them all season. See the Play-off pools in full at ItsRugby.fr

The play-downs are less clear cut, with few teams having earned enough points to guarantee them Fed1 survival just yet. Romans, already 11 points clear of relegation, look safe, as do Orleans (11pts clear) and Dijon (9pts). The tighest group of all is Le Bugue's own Pool E, where Orthez hold a slender lead on 30 points and Le Bugue and Saint-Medard sit just behind on 28. The other team in that group, Epernay, are one defeat from mathematical relegation on a woeful two points, and Poitiers (8pts), Bedarrides (11pts) and Vallée du Girou (12pts) can also start planning for life in Federale 2. Keep an eye too on Pool B, where Tournefeuille, Mauleon and Mazamet are separated by only four points and look set to battle it out for the one place remaining once leaders Dijon make that top spot their own. See the Play-down pools in full at ItsRugby.fr

You can find all the latest Federale 1 results at ItsRugby.fr

Final Fédérale 1 Pool 6 table:

Fédérale 1 Play-Down Pool E: