Maxime Medard feels the force of the Toulon defence © Getty Images

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Tournaments/Tours: French Top 14

Teams: Castres | France | Perpignan | Racing Metro | Toulon

Toulon coach Philippe Saint-André could scarcely conceal his delight after watching his side snatch a crucial 6-3 win at Toulouse's Stade Ernest Wallon.

"This is an important victory in our fight for the top six [play-offs]," Saint-André told Var Matin. "There were a lot of mistakes on both sides but there was plenty of commitment. We stayed organised and the lads kept churning it out for 80 minutes. I'm really proud of them."

Unsurprisingly, his opposite number Guy Noves was less than impressed with his team's performance but called the result "logical".

"Of course I'm disappointed because we lost at home," admitted the veteran Toulouse coach. "It's unfortunate but the result is logical. It was a tale of two halves; in the first half, we dominated but didn't score. In the second half, we were the ones dominated so [the result] is to be expected."

Meanwhile Castres Olympique went back to the summit of the Top 14, thanks to a 24-24 draw away to Racing Metro.

Veteran fullback Romain Tuelet contributed six penalties and a drop goal to his sides' tally in an entertaining match at Stade Colombes.

"Given the way the game went, the result was fair enough," Teulet told Midi Olympique. "It's a good result [for us] and it was a great match and I think the spectators saw plenty of good stuff. Personally I was delighted with my own performance."

French champions Perpignan lost ground on rivals Castres by losing 13-16 at Montauban. The Catalans had to play much of the second-half without the sin-binned Perry Freshwater and Gavin Hume, a fact not lost on coach Jacques Brunel.

"The difference is that we were more penalised than our adversaries," Brunel told l'independent. "We played 20 minutes with 14 men but still could still have snatched it at the end with a drop goal. I'm a little disappointed given that context."