Bordeaux (AFP) – On a day of last-minute scores in the Top 14, last-place Oyonnax twice struck late on Saturday to draw with leaders La Rochelle while Brive scored at the end to edge Toulon.
In other matches, Bordeaux, in their first game under English coach Rory Teague, smothered Lyon 19-10 and Agen crushed third-place Castres 30-3.
In Oyonnax, the home team trailed by ten points with two minutes left on the clock.
Then Maxime Veau touched down and Ben Botica converted. The two teams played seven extra minutes before Botica ended the match by kicking a penalty to earn the home team a 38-38 draw.
La Rochelle finished with five tries, Oyonnax with four.
It was to some extent a hollow exploit for the “Oyomen” who lost ground in the standings as Brive and Agen both won and are now nine points adrift at the bottom of the table.
La Rochelle picked up two points for the draw and held on to first place when Castres lost but Montpellier, who have been playing leapfrog with the lead all season, have a chance to regain top spot with a bonus-point victory when they host Stade Francais on Saturday evening.
Castres had not lost in two months but their run of seven straight victories ended in emphatic fashion as Agen scored three second-half tries.
Agen led 6-3 at the break but had already touched down twice by the time Castres loose forward Maama Vaipulu was sent off in the 63rd minute.
Entering the final seconds in Brive, Toulon, the losing Top 14 finalists last season, led by six points thanks to three penalties by Francois Trinh Duc and one by Anthony Belleau only for Benjamin Lapeyre to storm over for the only try of the game.
Gaetan Germain then landed the conversion to give the home team a 13-12 victory.
Germain, who had come on for Arnaud Mignardi in the ninth minute, had also kicked two penalties for Brive who showed they are improving as they followed up a win over Montpellier to record two straight victories and increase the gap to the bottom two.
In Bordeaux, the home team dispatched Lyon 19-10 in a cagey mid-table match.
Under new management — Jacques Brunel has left to coach the French national team — and faced with a largely toothless Lyon team, Bordeaux offered a minimalist brand of rugby with an emphasis on tactical kicking.
Mathieu Jalibert was again perfect with the boot as he kicked 14 points but Bordeaux created few dangerous chances until Marco Tauleigne made the breakthrough with their only try after 61 minutes.
Lyon scored a last-gasp try when Jean-Marcelin Buttin crossed the line to save a little honour.
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