Clermont pummel Pau, La Rochelle stay clear in Top 14

Clermont Auvergne got back on track in the Top 14 on Saturday with a 65-13 hammering of Pau.

Successive defeats had seen Clermont lose the leadership of the league and fall eight points behind La Rochelle, but Franck Azema's men proved far too strong for a Pau side that had begun an eight-game unbeaten run with victory in the reverse fixture.

David Strettle scored a second-half brace and seven other home players crossed for tries in a one-sided encounter at Stade Marcel-Michelin.

La Rochelle responded to Clermont's emphatic victory by beating Brive 36-17 to remain clear at the top of the table.

The leaders effectively wrapped up the game before half-time with four first-half tries, Vincent Rattez, Elliot Roudil, Jason Eaton and Benjamin Noble all going over. Mathieu Tanguy also touched down at the end of the game.

#TOP14, J21

Pour le classement c'est par ici pic.twitter.com/0Szd0Kj3XH

— LNR.FR (@lnr_fr) March 18, 2017

Saturday's other fixture saw Bayonne run out 24-20 winners against Bordeaux-Begles at Stade Jean Dauger.

Bordeaux trailed by 15 points at the interval and their subsequent fightback was not enough to rescue victory.

The matches involving Stade Francais and Racing 92 had been postponed on Friday after stunning plans for a merger between the two clubs were announced.