It was a physical and occasionally bad-tempered encounter in clear, dry conditions which really ought to have seen a more open running game.

But Perpignan kept the ball close to their marauding pack, and away from Toulouse's dangermen, expertly, and thus nearly taking the game late on when it was still tied at 9-9.

Then Jean Bouilhou finished off the lone break by Toulouse's artisans, and gave the full house a rousing finale with his try ten minutes from the end.

Perpignan's pack displayed better control in the early stages, even if Toulouse were the more energetic. Yannick Jauzion almost got Maleli Kunavore away, but the Fijian winger over-ran his supplier, and although Jeff Dubois was kicking well, Perpignan dominated the line-out.

Both sets of forwards carried their ball well, and when Jean-Baptiste Elissalde eschewed a long-range shot at goal for a kick to the corner, the intent on tries was clear to see.

However, with the Catalan defence holding strong, and the skirmishes around the fringes becoming a little more pugnacious than was truly necessary, Elissalde finally opted for the posts to take the heat off on 20 minutes, and gave his team the lead.

Perpignan's forwards - helped by Nicolas Laharrague's boot, marched the ball 60 metres downfield over the following seven minutes, only for Clement Poitrenaud to run a kick back that same 60 metres with a magnificent rangy run that took him past five defenders - underlining Bernard Laporte's decision to recall him to the French squad this week.

When Gregory Le Corvec halted the move by killing the ball, he went to the bin and Elissalde made it 6-0.

Laharrague dropped a goal from the first phase at the restart to make it 6-3, and that was how it was at half-time, although Patricio Albacete followed Le Corvec to the bin for a similar offence, and Perpignan really ought to have finished off a four-minute spell of intense pressure.

Laharrague and Elissalde swapped penalties at the start of the second half to make it 9-6, but Perpignan were getting the ascendancy, and when Nyanga was sent to the bin for tackling off the ball after 55 minutes, the Catalans saw their chance.

After a series of line-outs and drives near the Toulouse line, followed by a break by Gavin Hume, Guillaume Bortolaso was an atom short of the line.

Then came the moment of magic. Elissalde and Kunavore ran laterally, and Cedric Heymans took the ball at pace to break upfield up his wing, before kicking across the field where the sprinting Bouilhou was all alone to pick up and make his way to the left-hand corner.

Courrent converted brilliantly for a 16-9 lead.

Almost immediately Laharrague made it 16-12 with a penalty, and the Catalan forwards spared no energy with a blustering spell of drives that took them into the Toulouse 22.

With one minute remaining, Laharrague poked a penalty to touch five metres from the Toulouse line to set up the winning movement, but Gregory Lamboley leapt high into the evening air to pluck the ball to safety. Dubois cleared to touch to set the seal on an enthralling victory that sees the Toulousains leapfrog Perpignan into third place in the table

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Try: Bouilhou
Con: Courrent
Pens: Elissalde 3

For Perpignan:
Pens: Laharrague N. 3
Drop goal: Laharrague N.

Yellow cards: Le Corvec (Perpignan, 31), Albacete (Toulouse, 36), Nyanga (Toulouse, 56)

Toulouse: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Maleli Kunavore, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Jean-François Dubois, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Finau Maka, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Romain Millo-Chluski, 4 Patricio Albacete, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 2 Yannick Bru (c), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Virgil Lacombe, 17 Daan Human, 18 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Jean Bouilhou, 20 Valentin Courrent, 21 Gaffie Du Toit, 22 Cedric Heymans.

Perpignan: 15 Gavin Hume, 14 Christophe Manas, 13 David Marty, 12 Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 11 Pascal Bomati, 10 Nicolas Laharrague, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Grégory Le Corvec (c), 7 Ovidiu Tonita, 6
Guillaume Bortolaso, 5 Colin Gaston, 4 Olivier Olibeau, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Michel Konieckiewicz, 1
Sébastien Chobet.
Replacements: 16 Perry Freshwater, 17 Sebastian Bozzi, 18 Guillem Guirado, 19 Rimas Álvarez-Kairelis, 20 Sylvain Dupuy, 21 Steven Meyer, 22 Julien Laharrague.

Referee: Franck Maciello