Leeds Carnegie edged a fascinating contest in the South of France to return to  the top of their pool in the European Challenge Cup thanks to tries from Fosi Pala'amo and Lee Blackett.  The game turned on a raft of substitutions either side of the hour mark as Leeds Director of Rugby Stuart Lancaster grabbed the game by the scrum of the neck. At that point Leeds trailed 20-13 but the arrival of Jonny Hepworth and Lee Blacket in particular in a reshaped midfield unlocked the home defence.  Hepworth created the winning try by breaking through in midfield and eventually Blackett finished off the move to secure a memorable victory in France.   Leeds Carnegie travelled to France for their second European Challenge Cup game looking to build on their win over Castres at Headingley Carnegie against France's bottom side.  In freezing conditions, the visitors found themselves behind after just three minutes when full back Gavin Williams kicked a penalty from 18 metres out after Leeds were penalised for hands in the ruck.  However, it was not long before the English side were asserting their dominance and good play by the Leeds pack and a great kick by Leigh Hinton to the corner to maintain the pressure on the home side eventually led to the first try of the night. Having gone close with a number of drives to the line, the giant frame of prop Fosi Pala'amo rumbled his way over for a try. Alberto Di Bernardo added the simple conversion to make it 7-3 to Leeds.  That lead was cut to 7-6 after 19 minutes when Williams kicked his second penalty but it did not seem to put Leeds off their stride as they continued to play the majority of the game in the Dax half. However, against the run of play, winger Laurent Diaz intercepted an attempted offload by Rob Vickerman ten metres from the home line before sprinting clear of the chase by Andy Tuilagi to score. Williams added the conversion to make it 13-7 after 29 minutes.  Leeds hit back quickly through a drop goal from Di Bernardo after the fly half had earlier missed a penalty.  Williams, with a penalty, and Di Bernardo, from a drop goal, missed the chance to increase their sides score before half time to it remained 13-10 at the break.  Leeds came out fired up at the start of the second half and levelled the game after just eight minutes of the second half when Di Bernardo kicked a penalty from 35 metres out after Dax were caught offside trying to repel another Leeds attack.  However, as in the first half, Dax were clinical when they got a chance in the Leeds half and scorfed their second try of the game. They had brought on French international Thomas Lievremont to bolster their pack and he used his experience to guide the pack forward before Pierre Caillet was the man to get the ball down. Williams added the conversion to make it 20-13 after 51 minutes.  Five minutes later, the visitors were able to cut that lead with another penalty from Di Bernardo but they were unable to make the most of the possession they still enjoyed in the Dax half.  Stuart Lancaster made three decisive changes on the hour, bringing Lee Blackett and Jonny Hepworth into a re-shaped midfield and it paid dividends straight away. Brilliant footwork from Hepworth took him through the Dax midfield before he passed to Stuart Hooper. The Leeds skipper drew two defenders to him before throwing a pass over his head to Blackett who caught the ball and dived for the line in the same movement to score. Di Bernardo's conversion handed Leeds a 23-20 lead with 15 minutes remaining.  Leeds did not retire into their shell after that score and continued to ask questions of the home side, however importantly given next week's return to action in the Guinness Premiership, they showed they could close out a game. Not many sides come to France and win and that will no doubt give Leeds Carnegie a massive boost ahead of the clash with Leicester Tigers next Saturday at Headingley Carnegie.

US Dax: Williams, Tutard, Giorgadze, Courtade, Diaz, Argel, Morlaes, Rameau, Pedrosa, Boyoud, Sierra, Berek (c), M Lievremont, August, Caillet.  Replacements: Decamps for Rameau (37), Bonet for Pedrosa (57), Auzqui for Boyoud (HT), Mazel for Berek (64), T Lievremont for August (45), Bell for Giorgad, Lafourcade

Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Satala, Vickerman, Tuilagi, Biggs, Di Bernardo, Bedford, Pala'amo, Parkes, Noon, Hooper, Lund, Paul, Schusterman, Clark  Replacements: Nilsen for Parkes (52), Cusack for Pala'amo (52), Bouza for Lund (60), Stitcher, Edwards for Bedford (52), Hepworth for Vickerman (60), Blackett for Tuilagi (60), Pala'amo for Noon (78) 

Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)