Scrum of the Earth /

You won't catch us having a go at French rugby at ScrumoftheEarth, not with the glut of tries and boutique-designed shirts that make Anglo-Welsh rugby matches look like a mother's meeting in Poole.

Too right. And following in Munster's tepid footsteps, another of European rugby’s unbeaten records vanishes...

So Stade Francais were toppled by Toulouse?

Two tries leading up to half-time from Clement Poitrenaud and Yannick Jauzion coupled with Juan Martin-Hernandez's premature exit and Lionel Beauxis’ wayward boot blew a black mist over a bumper Stade de France crowd.

I heard it was near 80,000 capacity?

Almost. Proving that apart from being gallery hunting, coffee drinking, sexual-orientated pretty folk, they do like their rugby up in the north.

Any other shocks?

Well Montauban exacted some revenge for last weekend’s Heineken Cup defeat by ending a 50-year barren spell in Clermont. It was especially sweet for Fijian flyer Vilimoni Delasau who touched down.

So what’s the gap at the top now then?

Stade remain four points clear but with Dan Carter’s imminent arrival, Perpignan look handily placed in third and six points off the top.