French champions Biarritz Olympique were made to fight to the death to ensure a home victory over newly promoted Grenoble.

Grenoble beat Biarritz on the opening day of the French Championship and by the 15th minute of the return leg last Saturday had established a 21-0 lead.

It took the Pays Basque club until the 75^th minute to claw themselves back into the game. But, led from the front by French scrum-half hope Dimitri Yachvili, they managed to hold on to a narrow 30-27 win and maintain their status as Pool 1 leaders.

Other than that narrow escape for the French title holders, it was a case of significant home wins all round in the 'Top 16'. Toulouse gave Perpignan a harsh lesson, beating them 43-20 at Stade Ernest Wallon, while Béziers, the other Heineken Cup club in Pool 2 secured a 29-7 win over Mont de Marsan. Pau notched up a confidence boosting 40-28 home victory over Colomiers while Agen held on to their Pool 2 top-spot by beating Narbonne 30-6 at Stade Armandie.

In Pool 1 Bourgoin continued on their winning streak with a 37-10 crushing of Montferrand, Stade Francais beat strugglers Castres Olympique 35-15 and Bordeaux-Bà¨gles romped to a 31-10 victory over Montauban.

In Wales, Heineken Cup Pool 1 side Neath thrashed Caerphilly 41-23, and in the battle of the PARKER PEN CHALLENGE CUP sides, Ebbw Vale lost 7-6 at home to Bridgend.

Edinburgh trumped Glasgow 29-13 in the inaugural Bank of Scotland Pro Rugby Cup match.

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In England, Gloucester stayed on top of the Zurich Premiership with a 18-9 win over Northampton Saints, and Heineken Cup Champions Leicester Tigers moved into the top three with a 9-6 victory over London Wasps.

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Italian Heineken Cup representatives Viadana lost 39-32 to PARKER PEN side L'Aquila.