Montpellier give ill White a boost
Montpellier closed the gap at the top to four points with a seven-try 51-37 romp at Grenoble, to give South African coach Jake White a boost.
Media reports in Montpellier claimed 2007 World Cup-winning coach White had been hospitalised with illness and didn't make the trip to Grenoble, leaving assistants Shawn Sowerby and Scott Wisemantel in charge.
Pau, promoted last year after nine years in division two, went into the showdown just five points clear of the drop zone having lost eight of their 12 league matches – including home reverses to Toulon, Bordeaux and Toulouse.
But against the leaders they were out of the blocks in spectacular fashion as they carved out a 21-14 lead by the interval against a Clermont side who started with a six-point cushion over La Rochelle and Bordeaux.
Fijian wing Watisoni Votu and Kiwi stars Colin Slade and Conrad Smith all went over for the hosts in the opening 40 minutes with Tom Taylor converting each try.
Strettle produced his opening two salvos for Franck Azema's Clermont, who knew that come what may they would hold onto the league leadership as the twice runners-up prepare for an upcoming European Cup tussle with Ulster.
Camille Lopez kicked three conversions and a penalty for Clermont but Taylor's additional haul of three penalties, coupled with Fijian centre Jale Vatubua's 65th-minute clincher, kept Pau in the driving seat.
Clermont, undefeated at the venue since 2004, fought back furiously after the restart, with former Waratahs man and Australia international Sitaleki Timani going over on 46 minutes.
But Thomas Bianchin delivered the perfect riposte two minutes later after a fine interplay between Slade and Algerian prop Malik Hamadache.
Steffon Armitage then fed Vatubua coming off a ruck to muscle in for his third try of the season and finish off the table-toppers.
A Morgan Parra penalty at least gave Clermont a losing bonus point as Pau showed their recent win over Racing 92 was no fluke.
"You have to take your hat off to Pau, they played a full match and took us for 40 points," said Azema.
"It's not the best way to prepare for the European Cup."
Chris Farrell put rock-bottom Grenoble in front with a third-minute try but Montpellier hit back with tries from Jacques Du Plessis (18 minutes), Joseph Tomane (24), skipper Fulgence Ouedraogo (30), Konstantine Mikautadze (55), a double from Timoci Nagusa (60, 76) and Jesse Mogg (77).
La Rochelle are third, five points off the summit, after Racing 92 grabbed a last-minute try through Yannick Nyanga – converted by Dan Carter – to secure a 23-23 draw.
Pint-sized wing Gabriel Lecroix scored two tries for La Rochelle.
Stade Francais ran in eight tries in a 51-5 mauling of Bayonne with Australian scrum-half Will Genia scoring his first for the club in the third minute.
Genia, signed after the 2015 World Cup, has been plagued by injuries and was playing just his seventh game for the Paris giants.
Table after Saturday's matches (played, won, drawn, lost, points for, points against, bonus points, total points):
Clermont 13 8 2 3 378 286 5 41
Montpellier 13 8 0 5 318 253 5 37
La Rochelle 13 6 3 4 312 265 6 36
Castres 13 7 1 5 335 259 4 34
Bordeaux-Bègles 12 8 0 4 306 260 2 34
Racing92 13 7 1 5 299 285 2 32
Toulon 12 6 1 5 299 256 5 31
Stade Français 13 6 1 6 338 313 3 29
Toulouse 12 6 0 6 242 240 4 28
Brive 12 6 1 5 276 311 1 27
Pau 13 5 0 8 296 342 5 25
Lyon 13 4 2 7 263 298 4 24
Bayonne 13 3 2 8 188 341 0 16
Grenoble 13 2 0 11 297 430 6 14
Agence France-Presse
