Clermont show fight

Outplayed and outmuscled in the first half, Clermont turned things around after the break largely thanks to the boot of Brock James, who was successful with five penalty kicks.

The Australian flyhalf was also instrumental in setting up Gonzalo Canale's try early in the second half, which cancelled out Julien Candelon's first-half effort for the visitors.

Victory sees Clermont move up to sixth, while Perpignan end the year in 10th place.

Toulouse will start 2011 as top dog in the Top 14 after a comfortable 25-8 win over SU Agen, thanks to a try from Vincent Clerc and some faultless kicking by David Skrela. All the leaders' points came in the first half and, despite a mini-revival after the break, it was too little too late for Agen.

Montpellier end the year in second after a hard-fought 22-16 home win over Biarritz while fourth-placed RacingMetro played out a dull 6-6 draw with Brive in Paris.

Stade Francais recorded a much-needed 26-16 win at Bourgoin while Iosefa Tekori scored a hat-trick in Castres' 25-10 victory over La Rochelle.

Rounding off the day's action, Toulon dropped to a 20-9 defeat to Aviron Bayonnais in a mid-table battle.