Clermont claimed a thumping 38-10 victory against Agen, while there were also Top 14 wins for Montpellier, Toulon, Toulouse, Castres, Brive and La Rochelle.

With Montpellier surging up in the standings over the past couple of weeks, Clermont were on a mission to maintain their seven-point advantage at the top of the table and unfortunately for Agen they had to face the galvanised log leaders.

Fijian flyer Alivereti Raka scored a brace in an otherwise subdued first half as Clermont led 12-3 at the changeover.

But the hosts went on to score four more tries in the second half, while only conceding one as they secured a crucial bonus-point triumph.

Meanwhile, the rejuvenated Montpellier continued to keep pressure on the table-toppers with a superb 26-20 away win over Stade Français in Paris. Jake White’s men controlled the match from the start to consolidate their place behind Clermont on the log.

In other matches, Toulon returned to the winners' circle with 25-9 bonus-point win over Pau, Toulouse scored two unanswered tries against Racing’s second-stringers for a 14-3 win at home, Castres edged Grenoble 33-28 despite conceding two yellow cards to move into a playoff spot, Brive hammered Oyonnax 31-13 for a comfortable bonus-point win and La Rochelle stunned Bordeaux 22-15.

Round 20 results:

Clermont 38 Agen 10
Stade Français 20 Montpellier 26
Pau 9 Toulon 25
Toulouse 14 Racing 3
Grenoble 28 Castres 33
Brive 31 Oyonnax 13
La Rochelle 22 Bordeaux 15

Photo: Jean-Paul Thomas/Getty Images