In-form Racing-Metro defeated Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon 28-15 in one of three Top 14 games to take place on Sunday.
Wilkinson can't stop Toulon slipping to defeat on their travels
There seems to be nothing stopping Racing-Metro's rise up the standings after they defeated Toulon 28-15 in Sunday's Top 14 action.
South African Francois Steyn starred for the Parisians, scoring their try and also slotting over two long-range penalties.
In other action, Brive relied on the expert kicking of Fabrice Estebanez and some strong tackling to keep Toulouse at bay.
Bottom club Albi also pulled off a vital home win over fellow strugglers Biarritz, who have now lost three league games on the spin.
Brive 27 Toulouse 21
Brive held off a second-half fightback from Toulouse to record a 27-21 victory in their Top 14 clash at Stade Amedee-Domenech.
Just one week before their Heineken Cup trip to Cardiff, Toulouse - in a repeat of their performance against Castres last week - paid the price for slow starts in both halves.
Toulouse had hoped to benefit from a Brive side that had not trained because of quarantine restrictions owing to the swine flu outbreak.
After a lightning start by Brive, Toulouse battled back to 18-18 but failed to score the tries that would have made the difference.
In the end the boot of Fabrice Estebanez, who scored three drop goals for the hosts, turned out to be decisive. Toulouse picked up a defensive bonus point to remain in the top six of the Top 14.
SCA Albi 20-9 Biarritz Olympique
Albi created something of a surprise by keeping Biarritz at bay with a 20-9 win, only their third win of the season.
Albi went in to the half-time break 8-9 down against Biarritz but re-emerged to produce a solid second-half display, notably thanks to two drop goals from Romanian Iulian Dumitras.
It handed Biarritz their third consecutive defeat, and gave Albi hope of getting off the bottom of the table.
Dumitras admitted that their training plans, too, had been disrupted by the swine flu virus, saying: "We couldn't train as normal because of the flu, but we went out and battled with all we had for the win."
Racing-Metro 28-15 Toulon
Racing-Metro 92 claimed their eighth consecutive victory after beating Toulon 28-15, moving themselves into third place in the standings.
Toulon pivot Jonny Wilkinson kicked four penalties in the first half, but opposite number Jonathan Wisniewski imitated his idol when planting three shots at goal himself.
Springbok star Francois Steyn then equalled the scores with a traditional long-distance effort to take the teams into the half-time sheds at 12-12.
Two Wisniewski drop-goals after the break took Racing Metro into the lead for the first time in the match, before Steyn stunned Toulon with a try between the sticks.
Wilkinson tried to keep his side in the hunt with the boot, but Steyn completed his mammoth game with another penalty that sailed over from half-way.
