Taylor kicks Pau to Castres win

Paris - Former All Black Tom Taylor kicked Pau to an important Top 14 victory over Castres on Sunday, keeping the team in the hunt for a play-off place with an 18-12 win.

The victory lifts Pau at least temporarily into fifth in the table ahead of Montpellier as the race to a top-six finish and the play-offs hots up.

Montpellier clash with second-placed Clermont later in Sunday's other Top 14 game.

Pau started the day in sixth place and badly needed a win with tough fixtures up ahead including a visit to Clermont next weekend followed by a clash with top-of-the table La Rochelle with a visit to Toulon also on the agenda.

Taylor, 28, capped three times for the All Blacks in 2013, kicked the home side 12-6 up at half time and added two more kicks after the break for a try-less win in a tight game which looked as if it could have gone either way until the dying minutes.

However, Castres failed to capitalise on their few scoring chances and squandered their kicks, with Julian Dumora firing wide in the 73rd minute in their last chance to close the gap.