Paris--Toulon and Clermont share the lead in the Top 14, after comfortable victories on Saturday, just hours after Stade Francais had temporarily gone top with a last gasp drop goal to win at Bordeaux.
At the Marcel-Michelin stadium, 2010 champions Clermont broke the match open early with a pair of tries from Fijian flanker Peceli Yato during the first 12 minutes as they rumbled to a 28-16 win against an inexperienced Bayonne side who rested a number of first-choice players.
The visitors pulled a try back from hooker David Roumieu just before half-time when Clermont were down to 14 men, following the yellow card against lock Sebastien Vahaamahina for repeated fouls, but it was far from enough.
Clermont, who lost ten straight French championship finals before their lone success five years ago, took control after the break despite some dogged defending from Bayonne.
The only negative point for Clermont was their failure to pick up an offensive bonus point which allowed Toulon to draw level and lead on head-to-head results thanks to a 34-11 pasting of Brive.
The offensive bonus point obtained by Toulon was enough to give them the nod at the top.
The French and European champions dominated the tie from start to finish, running in five tries, in a one-sided affair to edge Clermont into second, the team they beat in the 2013 European final.
Earlier on Saturday, Stade Francais briefly went top, thanks to a Jules Plisson drop goal after the buzzer that gave them a 23-22 victory over Bordeaux-Begles.
Elsewhere, Montpellier needed a late penalty to draw 15-15 at home to La Rochelle while Racing Metro defeated Grenoble 34-29 in a high-scoring affair in Paris and Castres edged Lyon 23-20.
Fly-half Plisson was the hero for Stade Francais, who won the last of their 13 French titles in 2007, while Bordeaux had to settle for a defensive bonus point which lifts them into a tie with Toulouse and Oyonnax in the battle for fifth and sixth spot, the two final play-off places.
"We had the intention of coming here and winning and we concentrated all week on certain aspects of our game to achieve that," said Stade Francais coach Gonzala Quesada.
"We could have lost the game but it was very important for us to nail down the win. I'm very happy because it would have been very tough to lose this afternoon.
"I was sure the players would go for victory right until the final seconds and I know what kind of conditions they are capable of working in, their attitude, and the way they carry themselves so I was sure they had the right values," continued Quesada.
AFP
