Paris (France) (AFP) - French Top 14 leaders Lyon suffered their first defeat of the season, beaten 31-10 at Stade Francais as Pau moved up to second in the table with a 39-17 win over La Rochelle thanks to in-form Portugal winger Rodrigo Marta.

Former New Zealand scrum-half Tawera Kerr-Barlow was one of five try-scorers for Parisians Stade Francais, who reached the semi-finals last season.

Lyon remain top of the table due to their better head-to-head record with Pau.

They led 10-0 after half an hour in the French capital thanks to a try from Fiji’s Iosefo Masi and a conversion and penalty by fly-half Leo Berdeu.

Second-half yellow cards for scrum half Baptiste Couilloud and flanker Beka Saginadze cost the visitors, who finished a lowly 11th out of 14 teams last season despite also starting the season with three straight victories.

Kerr-Barlow sparked the comeback after half an hour to help claim his side’s second win of the season.

South Africa centre Jeremy Ward, back-rower Juan Martin Scelzo, young replacement scrum-half Thibaut Motassi and hooker Lucas Peyresblanques then crossed after the interval.

“I don’t think the score really reflects the match, but in the end we cracked a bit in the battle of wills,” Lyon hooker Guillaume Marchand said.

“I don’t think we’re in the same rut as last season,” he added.

- Perpignan spirit -

Pau kept pace with Lyon, hammering Ronan O’Gara’s side as the league’s leading try-scorer Marta notched up his sixth effort of the campaign in four outings.

Marta, 26, who joined from second-tier Colomiers over the summer, also played a part in prop Lekso Kaulashvili’s effort as the hosts led 27-3 at the break with Argentina hooker Julian Montoya the other scorer of the first half.

Hooker Quentin Lespiaucq and prop Karl Sorin claimed consolation tries for La Rochelle with Montoya’s compatriot Facundo Isa and Samoa centre Tumua Manu diving over for the home side.

“We claimed five points against the former Champions Cup winners so it’s a big thing,” Marta told Canal+.

“I’m writing my own story,” he added after being asked about Chris Ashton’s record of 24 touchdowns in one Top 14 season, set in 2017-2018.

Earlier Perpignan, who survived a relegation playoff last season, upset Bordeaux-Begles 38–25, although the Champions Cup holders again rested star winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey and were also without injured fly-half Matthieu Jalibert.

“We made loads of mistakes, but what we’ll take away from this is the players’ spirit,” Perpignan prop Enzo Forletta told Canal+.

“The aim in these big matches is to never give up until the very end. When you’re up against the European champions, you need character -– otherwise you can’t achieve anything.”

Racing 92 lost a second home game of the season after being edged 20-17 by Bayonne, for whom Ewan Johnson’s scored a match-winning try three minutes from the end.

Veteran France centre Gael Fickou’s try helped Toulon to their maiden victory of the campaign, crossing in a 28-10 win over winless new boys Vannes.

On Sunday, record 25-time champions Toulouse host Montpellier in a re-run of June’s final.