In Round 18 of France's Top 14, in a dramatic last minute Toulon won themselves a draw with Stade Français at Stade de France.

Stade Français were not the only ones pipped at the post. Bordeaux-Bègles were leading Montpellier till the last three minutes and a drop six minutes from time earned the Auvergnats a draw against needy Bayonne.

In fact there was good competition in all the matches, except the match in Perpignan when Biarritz were again poor, so poor this time that not even Serge Blanco could bear to look.

Results, Round 18

Stade Français vs Toulon, 19-19
Bayonne vs Clermont, 22-22
Montpellier vs Bordeaux-Bègles, 30-26
Castres vs Brive, 15-13
Racing Métro vs Lyon, 33-22
Toulouse vs Agen, 21-10
Perpignan vs Biarritz, 26-6

Log after Round 18

Lyon, Brive, Agen and Castres each have a match in hand.

Perpignan have done best this weekend, moving up two places while Brive and Bayonne have each dropped one place.

1 Toulouse 65
2 Clermont 59
3 Toulon 50
4 Castres 44
5 Montpellier 44
6 Stade Français 40
7 Racing-Métro 37
8 Agen 36
9 Bordeaux-Bègles 36
10 Perpignan 31
11 Brive 28
12 Bayonne 27
13 Biarritz 25
14 Lyon 24

Match Details

Stade Français vs Toulon

There was a lot of elegant fun at Stade de France on Saturday night, and it seemed even more the case when the home side was leading 19-12 as the clock reached 80 minutes.

Toulon hurled themselves at the home line and then went wide right and sturdy Steffon Armitage just managed to force himself over in the right corner as the church bells sound to signal the end of the game and players  started scuffling. The referee consulted the TMO who advised that a try had been scor4ed. That made it 19-17 to Stade Français but Matt Giteau, from touch, curved the conversion between the pink posts to tie the match.

Delight for Toulon, disappointment for the Parisians.

Toulon actually had the better of the game. They were much more enterprising, but for a short burst into live by Stade Français when first Felipe Contepomi came on. There were three strikes against Toulon - an injury to Jonny Wilkinson's knee and ankle, three missed penalty kicks at goal and wonky line-outs. (They lost five on their own throw.) On the other hand they scrummed better.

Two penalty goals gave Toulon a 6-0 lead after 18 minutes but then Julien Dupuy gold twice. After church bells, Giteau goaled to make it 9-6 at the break.

Contepomi came on, Dupuy levelled the scores and Paul Sackey, with two hand-offs, looked about to score till Armitage hauled him down. But the home side were bashing and went wide to the left where Pascal Papé strolled through. 16-9 to Stade Français after 49 minutes.

Wilkinson had kicked Toulon's first penalty, from 51 metres. Now sturdy fullback Benjamin Lapeyre smashed one over from 53 metres. 16-12 after 55 minutes.

From the kick-off David Smith, the most dangerous back on the field, cut clean through and gave to Jean-Charles Orioli who tried a grubber but kicked dead. Armitage had a powerful charge till Contepomi stopped him. Then Stade Français eased further ahead with a penalty with nine minutes to play.

Then came Toulon's final onslaught as Giteau broke and then they tapped a penalty and then Armitage scored.

Scorers:

For Stade Français:
Try: Papé
Con: Dupuy's
Pens: Dupuy 4

For Toulon:
Try: Armitage
Con: Giteau
Pens: Wilkinson 2, Lapeyre, Giteau

The teams

Stade Français: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Paul Warwick, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Pierre Rabadan, 6 David Lyons, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements: 16 Aled De Malmanche, 17 Francisco Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Scott Lavalla, 20 Byron Kelleher, 21 Felipe Contepomi, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Stanley Wright.

Toulon: 15 Benjamin Lapeyre, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 David Smith, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Olivier Missoup, 5 Christophe Samson, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Carl Hayman , 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Joe El Abd, 20 Geoffroy Messina, 21 Luke Rooney, 22 Fabien Cibray, 23 Davit Kubriashvili

Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert, Thomas Dejean
Television match officials: Jean-Marie Piraveau

Perpignan vs Biarritz

This was a match beyond just drab - kicking and bickering with a bright five minutes when they bashed and Kevin Boulogne scored two tries, running less than two metres to do so.

Scorers:

For Perpignan:
Tries: Boulogne 2
Pens: Boulogne 4
Drop: Hume

For Biarritz:
Pens: Barraque 2

The teams

Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Farid Sid, 13 David Marty, 12 Rudi Coetzee, 11 Adrien Planté, 10 Gavin Hume, 9 Kevin Boulogne, 8 Henri Tuilagi, 7 Jean-Pierre Perez, 6 Grégory Le Corvec, 5 Robins Tchale Watchou, 4 Olivier Olibeau, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Perry Freshwater
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jérôme Schuster, 18 Romain Taofifenua, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Florian Cazenave, 21 Maxime Mermoz, 22 Nicolas Laharrague, 23 Danie Theart.

Biarritz: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 12 Seremaia Burotu, 11 Dane Haylett-Petty, 10 Damien Traille, 9 Yann Lesgougues, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Talalelei Gray, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Pelu Taele, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Benoît August, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements: 16 Arnaud Heguy, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Raphaël Lakafia, 20 Benoît Guyot, 21 Luix Roussarie, 22 Ilikena Bolakoro, 23 Campbell Johnstone

Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: David Rosich, Pascal Ubeda
Television match officials: Jean-Claude Levrier

Bordeaux-Bègles vs Montpellier

With three minutes to play, Bordeaux-Bègles led 26-23, and then Alex Tulou scored for Montpellier from a maul, this just after Lopez had missed a penalty attempt.

Scorers;

For Bordeaux-Bègles:
Tries: Connor 2
Cons; Lopez 2
Pens: Lopez 4

For Montpellier:
Tries: Amorosino, Nagusa, Tulou
Cons: Paillaugue 2, Bustos Moyano
Pens: Paillaugue 3

The teams:

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Rafael Carballo, 13 Julien Rey, 12  Andrew Mailei, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Justin Purll, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Cameron Treloar, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Wayne Avei, 1 Hikairo Forbes
Replacements: 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 Laurent Delboulbes, 18 François Tisseau, 19 Leroy Houston, 20 Julien Seron, 21 Gerard Fraser, 22 Félix Le Bourhis, 23 Albert Toetu

Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Paul Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Yoan Audrin, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Benoît Paillaugue, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Drikus Hancke, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Juan Figallo
Replacements: 16 Erasmus Jansen van Vuuren, 17 Na'ama Leleimalefaga, 18 Alikisio Fakate, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Thomas Combezou, 22 Martin Bustos Moyano, 23 Maximiliano Bustos

Referee: Christophe Berdos
Assistant referees: Sébastien Minery, Dominique Parrini
Television match officials: Gérard Borreani
 
Bayonne vs Clermont

Bayonne so needed the win to keep their momentum going away from relegation but with six minutes left Anthony Floch dropped a goal and cost them two log points.

Scorers:

For Bayonne
Try: Gerber
Con: Boyet
Pens: Garcia 3, Heymans
Drop: Potgieter

For Clermont:
Try: Skrela
Con: Parra
Pens: Skrela 3, James
Drop:  Floch

The teams:

Bayonne: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Cédric Garcia, 8 Marc Baget, 7 Dwayne Haare, 6 Guillaume Bernad, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Abdellatif Boutaty, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Aretz Iguiniz
Replacements: 16 François Da Ros, 17 Clément Baiocco, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Julien Puricelli, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Benjamin Boyet, 22 Sam Gerber, 23 Vitolio Manukula

Clermont: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Brent Russell, 13 Regan King, 12 Noa Nakaitaci, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Elvis Vermeulen (captain), 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements: 16 Benoît Cabello, 17 Lionel Faure, 18 Loïc Jacquet, 19 Jason White, 20 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 21 Brock James, 22 Anthony Floch, 23 Clément Ric. 
 
Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Flavien Hourquet, Sébastien Hebert
Television match officials: Hervé Dubes

Brive vs Castres

Scoring two tries to nil makes losing hard indeed.

Scorers:

For Brive:
Tries: Luafutu, Caisso
Pen: Caminati

For Castres:
Pens: Teulet 3
Drops: Bernard 2

The teams:

Brive 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Ronnie Cooke, 13 Julien Caminati, 12 Arnaud Mignardi, 11 Guillaume Namy, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Agustin Figuerola, 8 Julien Ledevedec, 7 Thibault Dubarry, 6 Poutasi Luafutu, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Retief Uys, 3 Vasil Kakovin, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Davit Kinchagishvili.
Replacements: 16 Iuri Natriashvili, 17 Pablo Henn, 18 Olivier Caisso, 19 Antonie Claassen, 20 Vincent Forgues, 21 Mathieu Belie, 22  Jamie Noon, 23 Pablo Cardinali.:

Castres: 15 Romain Teulet 14 Romain Martial, 13 Paul Bonnefond, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Ibrahim Diarra, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Karena Wihongi, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Marc Rallier, 17 Michael Coetzee, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Jannie Bornman, 20 Thierry Lacrampe, 21 Pierre Garcia, 22 Pierre Lakafia , 23 Luc Ducalcon 

Referee: Jérôme Garces
Assistant referees: Sébastien Cloute, Patrick Beuriot
Television match officials: Vincent Azoulay

Lyon vs Racing-Métro

Lyon wanted to get off the bottom and Racing into the top six.

Scorers:

For Lyon
Tries: Januarie, Wakanivuga, Romanet
Cons: Lespinas 2
Pen: Lespinas

For Racing-Métro:
Tries: Bobo 2, Cronjé, Hernández
Cons: Hernández 2
Pens: Hernández 3

The teams:

Lyon: 15 Mark van Gisbergen, 14 Franck Romanet, 13 Vinaya Wakanivuga, 12 Nicolas Raffault, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Régis Lespinas, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Sisaro Koyamaibole, 7 Juan Leguizamón, 6 Eugene N Zi, 5 Coenie Basson, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Philemon Toleafoa, 2 Vincent Colliat, 1 Xavier Fiard
Replacements: 16 Antonio Testa, 17 Anthony Roux, 18 Arnaud Dorier, 19 Vincent Clément, 20 Brice Salobert, 21 Latu Fatafehi, 22 Laurent Tranier, 23 Sébastien Petit

Racing-Métro: 15 Juan Imhoff, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Sébastien Descons, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Bernard le roux, 6 John Leo'o, 5 François van der Merwe , 4 Lionel Nallet (captain), 3 Mikaele Tu'ugahala, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Álvaro Galindo, 20 Mathieu Lorée, 21 Gaëtan Germain, 22 Virimi Vakatawa, 23 Juan Pablo Orlandi

Referee: Cédric Marchat
Assistant referees: Salem Attalah, Laurent Sclafer
Television match officials: Laurent Valin

Toulouse vs Agen

At one stage brave Agen led 10-3.

Scorers:

For Toulouse:
Tries: Donguy 2
Con: Beauxis
Pens: Beauxis 3

For Agen:
Try: Palesasa
Con: Machenaud
Pen: Machenaud
 
The teams:

Toulouse: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Timoci Matanavou, 13 Yann David, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Sean Sowerby, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Romain Millo Chlusky, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Daan Human
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Yoann Maestri, 19 Gillian Galan, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 Vincent Clerc, 22 Florian Fritz, 23 Yohan Montes

Agen: 15 Silvère Tian, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 12 Miguel Avramovic, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Junior Palesasa, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Marc Giraud, 6 Jean-Joseph Monribot, 5 Patrick O'Connor, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Semisi Telefoni, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Julien Janaudy, 17 Laurent Cabarry, 18 Andrew Springgay, 19 Adri Badenhorst, 20 Sylvain Dupuy, 21 Mathieu Lamoulie, 22 Belisario Agulla , 23 Beka Sheklashvili

Referee: Stéphane Pomarède
Assistant referees: Arnaud Blondel, Jérôme Lamarque
Television match officials: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat