Le Bugue crush the pool leaders to take the top spot, but with only one point separating the top three, their next match could be the most important of the season. Oh, and Jonah Lomu returns. Again.

Le Bugue 41 Orthez 5: The visit of Orthez to Stade Cruvellier couldn't have gone much better for Le Bugue, who picked up a bonus point with a five-try win over the visitors to leapfrog them to the top of Pool E.

Les Chevaliers wasted no time getting off the mark, Aloisio Butonidualevu chasing up Tomas Marks' grubber to score his seventh of the season after just four minutes. Marks bagged his first conversion of an afternoon of faultless kicking, and added a penalty on 20 minutes, but Orthez's dominance up front kept the margin to 10 points at the interval.

The second half was all Bugue, winger Francois Beaugendre following up scrum-half Francois Bourgeois' chip ahead to score the second try on 44 minutes, and Tongan centre Suka Hufanga scoring adding the third three minutes later.

Orthez threatened to pinch Le Bugue's valuable bonus point when centre Benjamin Gaillardet scored their only points on the hour, but Charly Platek added a fourth for the hosts three minutes later to grab the bonus back, and after adding a second penalty a minute from time, saw Hufanga score in the last seconds for Le Bugue's fifth try.

Also in Pool E: Saint-Médard 38 Epernay 16. Les Poudriers stayed neck-and-neck with Le Bugue and Orthez thanks to a six-try rout of Epernay.

Next up: Le Bugue vs Saint-Médard, Stade Renaud-Cruvellier, Sunday 11 April. It's all come down to this. Probably. Just one point separates Le Bugue in first and Saint-Médard in third, and a home win over les Poudriers - the gunpowdermen - would go a long way to ensuring les Chevaliers stay in Federale 1 next season. That and a bonus-point home win over Epernay should be enough to guarantee le maintien, but we're sure les gars will be taking it one match at a time.

In the opening Play-Down match at Saint-Médard last month, Le Bugue surrendered a narrow half-time lead to lose 25-22, and while home advantage should count for more than the missing three points, Les Buguois will be wary of Saint-Médard's new-found affection for the try line: after scoring just 11 tries in their 14 regular-season matches, they've scored nine in their three play-down games.

In the other Pool E match of week 4, Orthez will be expecting a bonus-point win at home to Epernay.

The news Fed-lines: Comeback of the week was at Marseille, and we're not referring to the late Jonathan Bousquet try that gave Beziers their third win from three in the Trophée Jean-Prat. No, we're talking about Jonah Lomu, who, in the No.8 position, made only his third start for Marseille-Vitrolles in their 18-23 defeat, and set up a first-half try for Tongan centre Mata'ali Paea which gave Marseille a 10-0 lead with half-time approaching. But Bousquet's first try and two Anthony Tesquet penalties made it 13-10 Beziers at the break, and despite a Frédéric Ourabah try for the hosts, les Heraultais never lost touch and Bousquet's second kept them top of the Pool at the halfway stage.

Bourg-en-Bresse, Chalon-sur-Saone, Carcassonne, Perigueux and Tyrosse also boast 100% records, with Christian Labit's Carcassonne already looking certain to win the pool as their opponents Valence d'Agem Bobigny and Langon scrap it out for second place.

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

With only a point between first and third, Le Bugue's own Pool E is the tighest of all the play-down groups, but Tournefeuille's shock 16-11 victory over runaway leaders Dijon has ignited Pool B like a particularly spicy mustard on a bland slab of boiled ham. Tournefeuille still lie fourth, but are now level on points with Mazamet, who beat second-placed Mauleon 13-10, Ramiro Rocca's last-gasp penalty pinching all four points. Mauleon's visit to Dijon next time out should allow the winners of the Tournefeuille-Mazamet tie to climb into the safety zone, setting up a thrilling last two rounds.

It's salon de dernier opportunité for Lourdes, who go to Saint-Jean-de-Luz on April 11 needing a win to have any chance of staying up. They beat Poitiers 31-21 on the weekend, Mathieu Pouey kicking eight penalties and converting Cedric Latapie's 84th minute try to deny the spirited - but already relegated - Poitiers.

Get all the latest Federale 1 Play-down results at ItsRugby.fr

Fédérale 1 Play-Down Pool E: