Toulouse opened up a six-point lead at the top of the French Top 14 on Sunday after a hard-fought 23-16 win at home over Castres.
Toulouse had been assured of holding their advantage before kick-off after second-placed Montpellier were earlier beaten 28-16 by third-placed Racing-Metro.
The defeat was bitter for Castres, who had come into the game brimming with ambition after a five-match unbeaten run.
PHOTO: AFP
Maxime Medard opened for Toulouse after just five minutes as the Top 14’s top scorer touched down his 11th try of the season.
However,Castres kept in touch with two penalties off the boot of Romain Teulet, before Marc Andreu touched down for the visitors and Teulet converted to lead 7-13 after 20 minutes.
Toulouse battled back and thanks to David Skrela leveled 13-13 before the break.
Little separated the sides and a yellow card handed out to Castres flanker Ibrahim Diarra after 61 minutes for repeated fouls would prove the decider as Toulouse captain Thierry Dusautoir pushed through a try which gave them a 23-16 lead.
Toulouse held their advantage until the final whistle and maintained their unbeaten run at home, as Castres drop two places to sixth.
Castres back Teulet rued the yellow card.
“It was the turning point of the match. That undermined us because I think overall we were up for it,” he said. “It’s a pity to die like that because, given the showing of Toulouse, we could have done something this evening.”
Earlier, Racing-Metro pulled level on 45 points with Montpellier as champions Clermont, a further two points back in fourth, beat tailenders Bourgoin 34-9.
Racing-Metro quickly opened up a 20-3 lead on Montpellier.
Tries from Fijian winger Albert VuliVuli (38), Mirco Bergamasco (41) and Sireli Bobo (48) and 13 points off the boot of Jonathan Wisniewski allowed Racing avenge their 19-36 defeat at Montpellier and make up for their 6-6 draw against Brive on Wednesday.
England star Jonny Wilkinson helped Toulon bounce back from their midweek upset at Bayonne as he kicked 18 points in their 28-26 success over another Basque club, Biarritz.
Toulon were trailing 14-16 at the break after Ian Balshaw touched down for Biarritz after five minutes, but the hosts came back with four tries, including two from New Zealand winger Rudi Wulf (36, 65), Jeremy Sinzelle (46) and Gabriele Lovobalavu (75).
Toulon head for the outskirts of Paris on Sunday where they take on Racing-Metro.
Perpignan, meanwhile, continue their slow progress towards the top half of the table after a hard fought 23-16 win at home against Brive, while Agen scored precious points in their battle against relegation by beating Bayonne 21-3.
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