Surprise Top 14 leaders Castres suffered no hangover after the holiday break as they retained their position at the top on Wednesday beating Montauban 30-7.

However, Stade Francais lost more ground as their disappointing season continued apace with a 25-23 reverse away at Montpellier which leaves them outside the positions to qualify for next season's European Cup.

Their Paris rivals, Racing Metro, continued their fine form as they extended their winning run to 11 successive matches in all competitions with a 23-19 win over relegation-threatened Bayonne.

Stade Francais' position worsened as other teams above them in the European Cup positions won, Toulon walloping bottom-placed Albi 41-13 and Clermont thrashing Brive 52-10.

Clermont's victory moved them into provisional second place ahead of the late match between Toulouse and Perpignan.

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