Paris (AFP) - France skipper Antoine Dupont returned to his old stomping ground of Castres on Saturday, but could do nothing to prevent his Toulouse side from slipping to a 19-13 defeat.
Dupont turned out for the Castres youth team before joining Toulouse, his coach back in the day telling AFP this week that he was a "jewel" of a player.
While he might have shone in leading France to their first Six Nations Grand Slam in 12 years last month, it was a glum derby outing for Dupont as Castres stretched to 19 games their impressive home win streak.
The result means Toulouse, who suffered six defeats over the winter period when missing most of their internationals, will have it all to do to ensure a finish in the top six places for the play-offs, with just four regular-season matches to play.
The visitors opened the scoring with a try by Australian lock Richie Arnold, Castres responding immediately with a Julien Dumora drop-goal and a try of their own by hooker Gaetan Barlot, converted by Ben Botica.
Argentinian winger Juan Cruz Mallia crossed for Toulouse's second try, but France full-back Thomas Ramos was off the mark with his kicking, nailing just one effort from four.
Jeremy Fernandez and Botica (2) each landed penalties to guarantee Castres' fortress home stadium remained unbreached in what was a massive boost to the team's top-six play-off hopes: they are currently in fourth on 58 points, one ahead of Toulouse.
No room for error
Dupont was left ruing his team's lack of consistency and attacking intent.
"We are not at the maximum of what we are capable of doing," he said."I think we can do a lot better.
"We didn't show our best face today, even though we were there with intensity, commitment and spirit -- but that's not enough."
Dupont was also under no illusion that Toulouse's packed upcoming fixture list would be tough, starting with home and away matches with Ulster in the European Champions Cup.
"We have the European Cup next weekend and given the Top 14 standings, we will no longer have too much room for error in the remaining four matches," he said.
Castres coach Pierre-Henry Broncan was left delighted after overseeing his team's victory over their vaunted neighbours.
"A derby is never pretty, but a derby has to be won," Broncan said.
"Our fans were waiting for this today: our city, our club and our region were waiting to beat the neighbouring team."
Castres are no longer involved in European competition, having lost twice apiece to Muster and Harlequins, meaning they have two weeks to consolidate before aiming for a Top 14 play-off spot.
"It'll be great for us as a team to approach the final push with a full squad," said Broncan.
Montpellier consolidated their place as league leaders with a 23-13 win over Perpignan and La Rochelle moved into third as New Zealander Ihaia West kept his nerve to nail an injury-time penalty for a 16-15 victory over second-placed Bordeaux-Begles.
South African World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe and France winger Gabin Villiere were two of five try scorers as Toulon notched up a crucial 43-10 victory over mid-table rivals Lyon.
Clermont also claimed a vital win over Brive (41-10) and Pau ran out 42-19 winners over bottom club Biarritz in what is proving to be an incredibly tight race for the play-offs.
Sunday's one match is the Parisian derby with eighth-placed Racing 92 taking on cross-city rivals Stade Francais, in 11th, at their La Defense Arena.
