Fifteen points from the boot of French international Melvyn Jaminet helped Perpignan beat Biarritz 33-20 in a hotly-contested Top 14 affair.
In the battle of the two newly-promoted sides, Biarritz found themselves down to 13 men after losing New Zealand international Francis Saili and Australian winger Henry Speight to yellow cards within the opening 15 minutes.
Three penalties from full-back Jaminet, coupled with a penalty from Tristan Tedder and a try from winger Jean-Bernard Pujol saw Perpignan lead 16-7 at half-time.
And it was Jaminet, who starred for Les Bleus on their recent summer tour of Australia, who continued to punish Biarritz, finishing the game with 15 points from the boot to help Perpignan secure their first win of the new Top 14 season.
A 77th minute try from back-rower Kevin Kornath helped Castres narrowly edge out Clermont Auvergne 34-30 at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.
Clermont led for the majority of the contest, taking a 20-18 advantage into the break following some accurate goal-kicking from France international Camille Lopez.
The 28-cap Lopez, who finished the game with 15 points, helped extended Clermont’s lead early in the second half with a conversion after centre JJ Hanrahan touched down on 50 minutes.
But Castres fought back thanks to a try from full-back Julien Dumora, and two penalties from Argentine fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta – which saw them level the scores at 27-27 with just over 10 minutes left to play.
And while a Lopez penalty on 74 minutes handed the lead back to Clermont, Kornath’s try, converted by Urdapilleta, gave Castres a narrow away win.
Elsewhere, Pau managed to overcome the 26th minute sending off of Fijian flanker Lekima Tagitagivalu to secure an impressive 21-17 win over Lyon.
Fly-half Antoine Hastoy, who like Jaminet made his debut for Les Bleus in the summer, kept the points ticking over for Pau scoring all of their 21 points with the boot.
Fans of Montpellier were treated to an impressive 39-17 win over Brive after club president Mohed Altrad gave away tickets for their home opener for free.
And Montpellier teenager Louis Foursans was in the mood to give the home crowd a show, finishing the game with 14 points.
Meanwhile, last season’s semi-finalists Bordeaux-Begles got back on track with an impressive 37-10 win over Stade Français following their opening-day loss to Biarritz.
Matthieu Jalibert top scored for Bordeaux, kicking 14 points ,while tries from backs Yoram Moefana, Nans Ducuing, Ulupano Seuteni and Ben Lam helped them to a routine win.
