Toulon keep pace at the top

Toulon kept up the pressure at the summit of the Top 14 with a 32-23 victory over Racing Métro at the Stade Mayol on an emotional day in France.

Fans across the country paid tribute to the victims of the Charlie Hebdo tragedy by donning T-shirts and holding up banners, while a minute of silence was observed at all matches.

On the field, Toulon were back to their free-flowing best, as they put consecutive defeats behind them to run in four tries to move within three points of Stade Français after the latter had claimed a convincing 49-13 win over struggling Castres on Friday night.

In other results on Saturday, Jake White's Montpellier were brought back down to earth with a 20-13 loss away to Oyonnax, Toulouse grabbed a bonus-point victory over La Rochelle, Bayonne did just enough to see off Lyon, Bordeaux moved to within one point of the play-offs with a comfortable win over Grenoble and Clermont ran in five tries to defeat Brive 44-20 and move to the top of the table on points difference.

Round 16 results:

Toulon 32 Racing Métro 23
Bayonne 23 Lyon 22
Bordeaux Begles 34 Grenoble 16
Oyonnax 20 Montpellier 13
Toulouse 29 La Rochelle 26
Clermont 44 Brive 20
Stade Français 49 Castres 13

Photo: Franck Pennant/AFP Photo