Brive beat Montpellier 29-10, while La Rochelle, Racing 92, Stade Français, Toulouse, Lyon and Castres also secured wins in the French Top 14.

Languishing in the bottom half of the table and locked in a relegation battle with Agen and Oyonnax, Brive were up against the odds before their match against log leaders Montpellier. But the hosts avoided what many predicted to be a regulation defeat with a stunning upset of Montpellier.

Flyhalf Frans Steyn kicked Montpellier into the lead with an early penalty, but a converted try saw Brive go into the break 7-3 up.

Soon after the restart, a converted try for Montpellier and a penalty to Brive had the sides level at 10-10 before the hosts pulled away. Left wing Nadir Megdoud scored a brace followed by a try from right wing Benjamin Lapeyre to ensure Brive came away with a bonus-point victory.

Elsewhere, La Rochelle scored seven tries to steamroll Agen 47-6, Racing claimed a hard-fought 16-12 win against Oyonnax, struggling Stade Français stunned playoff contenders Bordeaux 22-12, and Toulouse inflicted an 18-13 defeat on Toulon.

On Sunday, South African prop Albertus Buckle scored one of Lyon’s four tries as they claimed a comfortable 35-23 triumph over Pau, while Castres secured a seventh successive Top 14 win as they overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Clermont 31-27.

Round 14 results:

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