PARIS - Stade Francais took over the leadership of the French Top 14 on Friday with a five-try 43-30 victory at Grenoble who surrendered their unbeaten home record.
Stade Francais' players stand before the French Top 14 rugby union match Grenoble vs Stade Francais on December 19, 2014 at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, southeastern France
Fiji winger Waisea Nayacalevu grabbed two of Stade's tries to take his season total to seven with Julien Arias, Jonathan Danty and flanker Antoine Burban marking his return after three months out with injury with the other tries.
The win, Stade's third on the road this season, took the Paris giants two points clear of champions Toulon who take on Lyon on Saturday.
However, their hopes of crowning Friday's win with a bonus point were shattered in the last minute when Grenoble were awarded a penalty try to add to earlier scores from Florian Faure and Alipate Ratini.
Ratini's try was his 10th of the season, confirming the Fijian's status as the league's leading try scorer.
"I am very satisfied because Grenoble were undefeated here and that wasn't for nothing," said Stade coach Gonzalo Quesada.
"It's a fine victory, we showed character and sacrifice. It's a success that makes me very proud as a coach."
On Saturday, French and European champions Toulon return to Top 14 duty missing a host of international stars and bristling with resentment over a 12-week ban handed out to full-back Delon Armitage.
Adding to the champions' discomfort is the knowledge that fellow cash-rich giants Racing-Metro have already started their assault on future domination with their audacious capture of All Blacks superstar Dan Carter.
Toulon go into the match without lock forward Bakkies Botha (nose injury), back rower Steffon Armitage (shoulder), scrum-half Sebastien Tillous-Borde (knee) and winger Bryan Habana (knee).
All were hurt in their bruising back-to-back European Cup confrontations against Leicester while 31-year-old full-back Delon Armitage has been banned for three months after being found guilty of using offensive language towards spectators at Leicester's Welford Road ground in the first match between the two sides.
"It's incomprehensible," Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal told La Provence in reaction to the suspension.
Racing Metro, who are six points off the lead, host La Rochelle still riding high after their capture of Carter for the 2015 campaign.
The 32-year-old New Zealand fly-half will move to France after the 2015 World Cup on a deal reported to be worth up to 1.6 million euros ($2 million) per season, which would make him the best-paid player in the world.
Of more immediate concern to Racing is the loss until the middle of February of Irish fly-half Jonathan Sexton, who has been forced to rest following a series of hits to the head while on international duty.
Racing are also without fly-half Johannes Goosen, winger Juan Imhoff, centres Jamie Roberts and Alexandre Dumoulin as well as scrum-half Mike Phillips.
Nineteen-time champions Toulouse, the only side left in the European Champions Cup with a perfect record of four wins in four games, look to translate that form into their mediocre domestic season.
Toulouse are seventh in the table and meet eighth-placed Montpellier, whose European campaign has yielded four successive defeats.
Toulouse are without resting internationals Thierry Dusautoir, Yoann Maestri and Yoann Huget but welcome back English fly-half Toby Flood, who has missed two matches with a groin injury.
Montpellier are in a desperate state having lost seven games in succession and with the position of coach Fabien Galthie looking increasingly precarious.
Third-placed Clermont face rock-bottom Castres in the late game with Clermont desperate for revenge after the 2013 champions ended their 77-winning home run last season.