The Six Nations is finished and the two-week hiatus of the Top 14 is over. That means French domestic rugby is back and buzzing once again, providing a much-needed injection of drama and intrigue into rugby fans across the country.

The leading tale from a packed weekend was Castres’ shock win at home to Toulouse, which was the league leaders’ third loss of this calendar year.

Elsewhere La Rochelle cemented their status as the number two ranked side in the league with a confident beating of Bordeaux Bègles, while losses near the top and bottom of the table further intensified the scramble to reach the playoffs and avoid relegation.

Here are the five main talking points from round 21 of the Top 14.

Urdapilleta leads Castres to shock win over league leaders Toulouse

Veteran fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta converted 14 points from the tee to help guide Castres to a surprise 27-17 victory over league leaders Toulouse at the Stade Pierre-Fabre.

The win was Castres’ third since early December and pushes them five points clear of the relegation zone.

Toulouse were not at full strength, with many of their Six Nations stars rested ahead of next week’s Champions Cup clash with the Bulls and Castres took full advantage of this, mounting an early 6-0 lead through the boot of Urdapilleta, who was soon after shown a yellow.

Castres kept their cool in his absence, so that when the 37-year-old Argentinian returned to the field they remained on top.

Their advantage then extended when full-back and captain Julien Dumora crossed the whitewash, giving Castres a comprehensive 19-3 lead at the break.

Santiago Chocobares’ second half try made a Toulouse comeback seem likely, but that dream faded once Dumora scored his second of the game. Matthis Lebel nabbed a consolation try for the visitors with three minutes remaining, but the pinpoint kicking of Urdapilleta ensured the game was already out of reach.

Castres are not out of the woods just yet and still have to play all three of their relegation rivals in the league run-in, but their rediscovery of home form has edged them one step closer to safety.

Five Favre penalties help La Rochelle topple top four challengers Bordeaux

La Rochelle closed the gap to Toulouse with a barnstorming second half display against top four challengers Bordeaux Bègles, coming out 36-6 winners at Matmut Atlantique.

Following a fairly uneventful first 40, Levani Botia powered over from close range to give La Rochelle a healthy advantage, which they never relinquished.

In the end the European champions proved too strong for Bordeaux, building an unassailable lead with two additional tries from Joel Sclavi and winger Pierre Boudehent, whose finish in the corner pushed La Rochelle beyond the 30-point mark.

Inside centre Jules Favre contributed heavily to the overall score, with 17 points from the tee, including five penalty kicks.

The win means La Rochelle sit comfortably in second and now have a six point buffer to third placed Lyon. Bordeaux remain fifth, still very much in the mix for playoff contention, but will need to put up a sterner challenge if they are to truly contend for the title this postseason.

Meanwhile Toulon beat Lyon 27-23 to move up to sixth in the table, but did so at the expense of winger Cheslin Kolbe who had to be carted off injured during the game.

Pau beat Bayonne in front of a sold out Reale Arena

Bayonne’s long-awaited return to the Reale Arena in San Sebastian ended in defeat, as Pau crashed their homecoming party.

The visitors came away with an invaluable 30-20 win at the packed out 40,000 seater stadium, inflicting Bayonne to their first home loss since January 2022.

Tries from prop Guram Papidze, winger Clément Laporte and leading Top 14 try-scorer Émilien Gailleton earnt Pau the win and lifted them out of the relegation zone, though they only have a two-point cushion and therefore are still a long way from safety.

However, it did bring an end to their unwanted three-game losing streak and constituted their first away win since the beating of La Rochelle in October.

For Bayonne, the loss sees them slip down to seventh, as they were overtaken by Toulon.

Garbisi heroics gives Montpellier last-minute win over Perpignan

Montpellier’s season has been far from iconic, but on Saturday their fans were given something to cheer for as Paolo Garbisi’s 77th-minute penalty clinched a 23-22 win over Perpignan.

The reigning champions are lingering within a playoff spot and still stand a chance of retaining their crown and the performance of their young Italian fly-half, who scored 13 points, provided plenty of hope of achieving that goal.

Indeed, Montpellier trailed for much of the game and only stayed within touching distance thanks to a first half try from Cobus Reinach.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, Perpignan led 22-13, and just as they were beginning to look comfortable, Léo Coly crossed over for the visitors. Garbisi slotted the conversion and then became the match winner by kicking a penalty to push Montpellier ahead by a point.

As Montpellier celebrated, Perpignan rued their missed opportunities as they slumped back into the relegation zone.

14-man Racing do enough to win Paris derby

Christian Wade scored a try on his return to the Racing 92 starting lineup as they brushed aside Stade Francais 17-13 to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Paris derby is always a full-blooded affair but this meeting was a more hotly contested affair than the reverse fixture which fell on Christmas Eve, in which Stade prevailed 48-10.

In the absence of the injured Finn Russell, scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec took over kicking duties and did enough to steer the away side to victory, converting both of Wade and Max Spring’s tries.

Impressively, Racing managed to outlast their opponents with only 14 men on the field, after Veikoso Poloniati was shown consecutive yellow cards for two dangerous tackles, eventually receiving his marching orders on the 30th minute mark.

Racing fronted up to the challenge of being a man down and managed to ride out the Stade storm to clinch and win which pushes them to within a point of a playoff spot.  

In the other game of the weekend, Brive’s Setareki Bituniyata and Marcel van der Merwe were both shown red cards in their 38-10 loss to Clermont.

Written by Stefan Frost