Brive moved off the foot of the Top 14 table when they claimed a 20-19 win against Stade Français at Stade Amédée Domenech on Sunday.
In a tough and uncompromising encounter, Stade Français outscored their hosts three tries to two but accurate goalkicking from Gaetan Germain secured victory for the home side and he eventually finished with a 10-point haul courtesy of two conversions and two penalties.
Brive had to dig deep for this win, which is only their second victory of the season, and the result means they move above Oyonnax into 13th position in the standings.
Stade Français made the brighter start and opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Morne Steyn crossed for the opening try after Djibril Camara and Charl McLeod did well in the build-up.
Steyn added the extras but the home side narrowed the gap via a Germain penalty in the 21st minute after Camara strayed offside on defence.
Stade extended their lead in the 33rd minute when Camara crossed for their second try after Waisea Nayacalevu set him up with a superb break which tore Brive's defence to shreds.
Steyn converted, which gave Stade an 11-point lead, but on the stroke of half-time Thomas Laranjeira got over for Brive's opening try and Germain's conversion meant the match was evenly poised with the visitors leading 14-10 at the interval.
Most of the second half was a tight affair although Brive took the lead for the first time in the 63rd minute when Matthieu Ugalde scored their second try which Germain also converted.
Germain added another penalty in the 69th minute, after Siegfried Fisi'ihoi was penalised for illegal scrummaging, and with the score 20-14 in their favour, Brive were on course for a deserved victory.
Stade refused to surrender, however, and two minutes before full-time Steevy Cerqueira crossed for their third try. Jules Plisson failed with the conversion attempt from out wide and although the visitors launched a final attack in the game's closing stages, Brive held on for an important win.
The scorers:
For Brive:
Tries: Laranjeira, Ugalde
Cons: Germain 2
Pens: Germain 2
For Stade Français:
Tries: Steyn, Camara, Cerqueira
Cons: Steyn 2
Brive: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Benjamin Lapeyre, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Thomas Laranjeira, 11 Benito Masilevu, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 Petrus Hauman, 6 Said Hireche, 5 Jan Uys, 4 Fabien Sanconnie, 3 Damien Jourdain, 2 Francois Da Ros, 1 Karlen Asieshvili
Replacements: 16 Thomas Acquier, 17 Naama Leleimalefaga, 18 Peet Marais, 19 Julien Ledevedec, 20 Florian Cazenave, 21 Felix Le Bourhis, 22 Guillaume Namy, 23 Sila Puafisi
Stade Français: 15 Tony Ensor, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Hugh Pyle, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Mathieu De Giovanni, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Maxime Gau, 1 Zurabi Zhvania
Replacements: 16 Remy Bonfils, 17 Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, 18 Steevy Cerqueira, 19 Bakary Meite, 20 Arthur Coville, 21 Jules Plisson, 22 Jimmy Yobo, 23 Ramiro Herrera
Referee: Lauren Cardona
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