La Rochelle leave it late to secure vital bonus point and semi-final place

Defeat by Clermont but Ronan O'Gara's side secure passage to Top 14 semi-finals

Clermont's Fijian wing Alivereti Raka (L) misses to catch the ball during the French Top14 rugby union match between ASM Clermont and Stade Rochelais (La Rochelle) at Stade Marcel-Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, central France  Photo by THIERRY ZOCCOLAN/AFP via Getty Images 

Top 14 review

Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle made certain of a bye to the Top 14 semi-finals in Lille, picking up a vital bonus point at Clermont - but they left it late to make sure of a vital week off.

They needed a 79th-minute Jules Le Bail penalty to drag themselves to within the five-point losing bonus territory.

Le Bail needed to be accurate, as Racing had won 55-12 at home against Brive, and would have overtaken the Rochelais in the final straight if they had failed to pick up that bonus point.

Dilyn Leyds had scored the game's opening try, and Gregory Alldritt added a second for the visitors - but the unerring boot of the hosts' Morgan Parra proved the difference.

He converted George Moala's try and added six penalties, as the Jaunards won 25-20 to keep their own play-off dream alive and extend head coach Franck Azema's stay at the club for at least one more week.

They will head to Bordeaux next week in the barrage round of the post-season competition.

Toulouse made sure of their own direct route to the semi-finals in rather more impressive style, winning 21-10 at Bordeaux - but they lost Romain Ntamack, who limped off with a knee injury, in the process.

But the real drama occurred lower down the table.

Pau escaped the relegation play-off spot at the death, with a 41-25 win over Montpellier. They had started the day four points behind Bayonne - but overtook them in the table at the last, after the Basque side lost 12-9 at home to Stade Francais.

That result means the Top 14's promotion-relegation play-off will be between Basque Country rivals Biarritz and Bayonne, after the former had lost the Pro D2 final against Perpignan earlier in the day.

Stade's narrow win was just enough to ensure their participation in the end-of-season play-offs, and a barrage match against capital rivals Racing 92.

Anything less would have seen Castres - who had started the day in eighth place, and who were 13th as recently as New Year's Day - complete an unlikely run to the post-season. They came back from 17-0 down in 22 minutes at home against Toulon to pick up a bonus-point 48-24 win. But the Bayonne-Stade result meant they finished seventh, one point out of the play-off zone.

For Agen, coached by former Bandon boss Regis Sonnes, the final whistle at Lyon could not come soon enough. Having broken the 1,000 points conceded barrier last week against Racing, they lost 52-7, to pass the 1,100-point boundary and become the first side to finish a Top 14 campaign without a win to their name.