Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg’s avoidable error helped Toulouse to a 27-17 home win over Montpellier as the hosts moved to the French Top 14 summit.
Montpellier fly-half Hogg failed to gather a kick through near his own line, gifting Toulouse centre Dmitri Delibes the easiest of tries with 10 minutes to play.
Record 23-time champions Toulouse are now a point above second-placed Bordeaux-Begles, who welcome Lyon in the final game of the day.
Toulouse were without 10 players away with France’s squad preparing for the upcoming Six Nations, including superstar scrum-half Antoine Dupont.
Test centurion Hogg, 32, was playing his first game since being sentenced to a year of supervision, having avoided a jail term after admitting he had abused his estranged wife over the course of five years.
Hogg’s fellow Scot in Toulouse winger Blair Kinghorn had a better time of things, crossing for his fourth try of the season a week out from a likely start in Scotland’s first Six Nations game against Italy.
Versatile Argentine back Juan Cruz Mallia kicked 12 points for Toulouse as he stood in at fly-half for Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos, who are both away with Les Bleus.
Elsewhere, Racing 92 extended their record Top 14 run without a win to six matches as they were beaten 27-20 by Castres to add pressure onto head coach Stuart Lancaster.
The Parisians’ former back-rower and two-time Rugby World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi was present in the stands after he left the club to return home to South Africa with Durban’s Sharks due to personal reasons last year.
In a battle between the league’s two bottom sides, 14th-placed Vannes edged Stade Francais 33-28.
The kick-off for Bordeaux-Begles’ match with Lyon has been moved back 15 minutes to avoid a clash with San Antonio Spurs’ NBA game against the Indiana Pacers, being played in Paris and starring local hero Victor Wembanyama.
