Jonny Wilkinson celebrated his recent marriage in style by kicking 22 points as European champions Toulon beat Bordeaux-Begles 37-17 on Friday to take top spot in French rugby’s Top 14.

Clermont squandered their chance to depose Toulon later in the evening when they needed a last-minute field goal from Australian five-eighth Brock James to rescue a 22-22 draw at defending champions Castres whose points all came from South African scrum-half Rory Kockott.

All three Toulon tries came in the second half through Australian centre Matt Giteau, former All Black lock Ali Williams and English fullback Delon Armitage.

Wilkinson, who married long-time girlfriend Shelley Jenkins in the French resort of Bandol on Monday, ended the game with his head bandaged after a nasty clash.

But after a disappointing kicking display in his team’s 13-12 loss to Toulouse last weekend, Wilkinson was coolness personified on Friday, just three weeks out from the 10th anniversary of famously kicking England to the 2003 World Cup title in Australia.

“We have to pay tribute to Bordeaux who caused us many problems, especially at the scrum,” said Toulon forwards coach Jacques Delmas.

“They fed off our mistakes in the first half and we were rushing. But we refocused at halftime and were able to influence the game.

“Our only regret was not being able to get an offensive bonus point.”

Wilkinson was responsible for all of his team’s points in the first period which ended 12-12 with Pierre Bernard matching his illustrious counterpart for accuracy with the boot.

South African winger Bryan Habana, making his home debut for Toulon, had been unlucky not to mark the occasion with a try in the ninth minute.

His clever chip ahead was thwarted by a body check from Bordeaux fullback Darly Domvo who conceded the first penalty to be gobbled up by Wilkinson.

The momentum of the match shifted two minutes into the second half when Bordeaux centre Felix Le Bourhis was yellow-carded for a late tackle on Toulon halfback Sebastien Tillous-Borde.

In the 10 minutes he was off the field, Toulon stretched their advantage to 22-12 with Giteau grabbing the opening try by bursting through an inviting gap to score beneath the posts.