Toulon were made to battle in the first half by basement-dwellers Brive but eventually secured a comfortable 41-24 victory to keep themselves in the play-off places.
Fabien Galthie’s men went into the encounter in sixth position having endured an inconsistent start to the campaign and they struggled early on.
Although François Trinh-Duc put the hosts in front, it was not until the 27th minute when they scored their next points as Anthony Belleau touched down.
Gaetan Germain reduced the arrears from the tee before a remarkable 10-minute spell saw five players yellow carded.
Both teams were initially down to 14 men when Marcel van der Merwe and Karlen Asieshvili were sent to the sin-bin after issues in the scrum, but it was Toulon who increased the intensity.
They pressurised the opposition line and the visitors were unable to cope. As a result, Fabien Sanconnie, Said Hireche and Germain were all yellow carded, with the final indiscretion resulting in a penalty try for the home team.
Brive therefore began the second period shorn of three players and Galthie’s side effectively secured the win via Hugo Bonneval and Chris Ashton tries.
Asieshvili and Raphael Lakafia then traded efforts before Ashton extended the 2014 champions’ buffer. The visitors did have the final word via Samuel Marques and Germain but it was another disappointing afternoon for the strugglers.
The scorers:
For Toulon:
Tries: Belleau, penalty try, Bonneval, Ashton 2, Lakafia
Cons: Trinh-Duc 3
Pen: Trinh-Duc
Yellow Cards: Van der Merwe, Nonu
For Brive:
Tries: Asieshvili, Marques, Germain
Cons: Germain 3
Pen: Germain
Yellow Cards: Asieshvili, Sanconnie, Hireche, Germain
Toulon: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Anthony Belleau, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Anthony Meric, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Facundo Isa, 6 Raphael Lakafia, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Mamuka Gorgodze, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Florian Fresia
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Duane Vermeulen, 19 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Mathieu Bastareaud, 21 Ma’a Nonu, 22 Alby Mathewson, 23 Emerick Setiano
Brive: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Benjamin Lapeyre, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Poutasi Luafutu, 11 Benito Masilevu, 10 Matthieu Ugalde, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Petrus Hauman, 7 Fabien Sanconnie, 6 Said Hireche, 5 Sisa Koyamaibole, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Damien Jourdain, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 Karlen Asieshvili
Replacements: 16 Thomas Acquier, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 James Johnston, 19 Julien Ledevedec, 20 Samuel Marques, 21 Thomas Laranjeira, 22 Felix Le Bourhis, 23 Sila Puafisi
Referee: Sebastien Minery
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco-Baque, Sebastien Hebert
TMO: Patrick Dellac
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