Beaten three tries to one in their crucial survival tie, Le Bugue held out for a 22-20 win. But Saint-Médard's bonus point could yet take the pool right down to the wire

Le Bugue 22 Saint-Médard 20: Le Bugue conceded three tries to visitors Saint-Médard in their vital play-down match, but held on for a win that keeps them in the safety zone - for now.

Les Chevaliers raced into a 10-0 lead, Tomas Marks kicking an 11th minute penalty before a spell of pressure paid off as Fijian winger Aloisio Butonidualevu scored his seventh try of the season on 17 minutes, Marks converting.

The hosts should have gone further ahead but wasted two scoring chances, and on 28 minutes saw former Dax centre Duncan Bell score his second try of the season for les Poudriers. Guillaume Cazelle converted, and Bell scored a second on 35 minutes to give Saint-Médard a shock 12-10 lead.

Marks fired over a penalty for a 13-12 half-time lead, and extended it to 16-12 immediately after the break with another successdul kick. The Welshman added two more on 56 and 60 minutes, but Le Bugue faced a nervous last 10 minutes after Olivier Pourredon celebrated his first start since October with a 70th minute try.

Les Buguois held out for the all-important win to go four points clear of Saint-Médard, whose losing bonus point could yet prove crucial to both clubs in the battle to stay in Federale 1.

Also in Pool E: Orthez 38 Epernay 10. Orthez regain the top spot with a six-tries-to-one win over Epernay, despite playing some of the second half with just 13 men.

Next up: Le Bugue vs Epernay, Stade Renaud-Cruvellier, Sunday 18 April. Here's a five-pointer if ever there was one. 18 games in and Epernay have suffered 18 defeats, picking up only two losing bonus points all season. And those both came at home - only one team has failed to send Epernay back up north with a bonus-point flea in their ear this season, and the Champagne club has conceded an average 51 points over its nine road trips.

What we're saying is a good win could secure Fed1 survival for our garcons on Sunday, but we'll also be backing Orthez, who travel to Saint-Médard hoping for a win of their own which would guarantee their own survival and prevent their final day home match with Le Bugue being a winner-takes-all nail-biter. We don't think we could handle that either.

The news Fed-lines: Six more wins for the six undefeated Pool leaders virtually guaranteed their places in the knockout round of the Play-offs, with only Pool 1's Bourg-en-Bresse not in a commanding position - they sit only two points ahead of Limoges, with the pair's final-round match at Limoges likely to decide the pool winners. Of the 12 qualifiers, the top four points scorers get a bye into the two-leg quarter-finals, with the next four hosting the bottom four in a one-off 'eighth-final' tie. At the moment, Carcassonne, Perigueux, Tyrosse and Chalon-sur-Saone sit in the box seats, with Beziers, Bourg-en-Bresse, Limoges and Nice next up and Graulhet, Langon, Vannes and Saint-Etienne facing the tricky away trips.

But all that could change: this week, Carcassonne huffed and puffed before beating a young Bobigny side 41-35. The Parisians scored four tries to Carcassonne's six to give themselves an outside chance of reaching the knock-out round. Graulhet almost pulled off a shock win over Beziers in Pool 3, but the former French champions were saved by a 78th minute penalty from Jean-Baptiste Dambielle.

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

The Play-down result of the day came at St Jean de Luz, where Lourdes needed a win to retain any hopes of Federale 1 survival, and only went and got it! Le Rugby's own Jacques Hughes looked on and got a tasty tan as the Pyreneans came away 19-17 winners, giving a solid performance that saw them make most of the running despite being down to 13 men for the last few minutes of the first half.

In fact they were already a man down when full back Benoit Caussade ran in a 23rd minute try which Mathieu Pouey converted to help Lourdes to a 13-12 interval lead. The conversion was to prove crucial: although the Basques put in attack after attack in the second half, balls were knocked on and passes went astray, and when the try finally came 14 minutes from time, Patxi Elizondo couldn't convert Luc Lievremont's score.

Lourdes kept their cool and after a lengthy series of pick-and-goes, celebrated a win that brings them to within two points of St Jean, whose players slumped to the turf rueing missed opportunities. Lourdes have a slightly easier run-in, but will need to beat La Seyne when the group leaders visit next weekend to keep their survival hopes alive.

Elsewhere in the play-downs, Pool A became the first group to be sorted as Orleans and Lille confirmed their survival with wins of Monteux and Montmelian respectively. Pool F's Tours earned themselves a lifeline with a 20-9 away win at second-placed Niort, while in Pool C Morlaas beat Chambery 16-13 to all but condemn the Alpine outfit to Federale 2 rugby next season.

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

Fédérale 1 Play-Down Pool E: