A HARD-FOUGHT 25-14 triumph at Toulouse gave Carcassonne their third win from three since the start of the season.

But they were made to work for their victory by an ever-improving Toulouse team.

With only one try apiece at the break, fullback Thomas Boully for Carcassonne and hooker Stéphane Guillon for Toulouse, it was not until the hour-mark that the Canaries began to pull away.

After centre Yannis Ahcini had gone over, forward Lucas Rodriguez and centre Vincent Albert followed.

Toulouse snatched a defensive bonus point when secondrower Matteo Stefani touched down six minutes from time.

Pia and Limoux, each with two wins, are also unbeaten in the two games they have played. 

In the Catalan derby, Pia proved too strong for St Estève-XIII Catalan, winning 38-16.

With playmaker Théo Fages calling most of the shots on his return from World Cup duty in Australia, Pia ran in six tries, four of them in the first 20 minutes, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

Fullback Damien Huescar scored a try and kicked seven goals in all for a personal tally of 18 points while prop Bastien Scimone and Lenny Chachoua each finished with two tries.

St Estève winger Timéo Portier nipped in for a hat-trick, his last two both coming from Samy Devoyon kicks in the closing minutes.

Altogether four yellow cards were dished out following brawls, two to each side, and one red to St Estève halfback Mattis Kehres, but in the end the game had little of the intensity of a derby.

France assistant coach Maxime Grésèque, also returning from World Cup duty, saw his Limoux side race to a clear-cut 34-4 victory at Villefranche, building on a 20-0 half-time lead.    

Lézignan registered their first win of the season, overcoming hitherto undefeated Avignon 26-14 after leading 18-6 at half-time, though Avignon stay second in the table behind Carcassonne.

In the duel between the bottom two clubs, St Gaudens edged a 20-16 win over Villeneuve for their first victory of the season. Villeneuve are the only team without a win.  

Results
Saturday 7 November
Lézignan 26 Avignon 14
Pia 38 St Estève-XIII Catalan 16
Toulouse 14 Carcassonne 25
Sunday 8 November
St Gaudens 20 Villeneuve 16
Villefranche 4 Limoux 34
Bye: Albi

Fixtures
Saturday 14 November
Avignon v Toulouse
Carcassonne v Pia
St Estève-XIII Catalan v Albi
Sunday 15 November
Limoux v St Gaudens
Villeneuve v Lézignan
Bye: Villefranche

Table
Carcassonne 9 pts
Avignon 7 pts
Limoux 6 pts
Pia 6 pts
Albi 4 pts
Lézignan 4 pts
Villefranche 4 pts
Toulouse 4 pts
St Gaudens 4 pts
St Estève-XIII Catalan 3 pts
Villeneuve 2 pts