Montpellier surged up to second in the Top 14 as it dished out a 54-3 hammering to Racing 92 on Sunday (AEST).

The fixture had initially been scheduled for 18 March but was postponed after the announcement of the now-aborted plan for Racing and Stade Francais to merge.

Any frustration Montpellier had over the rescheduling was taken out on the Parisian club as the host ran in eight tries to leapfrog Clermont Auvergne in the standings.

Racing had won three consecutive league games going into the encounter, but could only muster a Dan Carter penalty in the first half.

By contrast, Nemani Nadolo, Kelian Galletier and Bismarck du Plessis went over for Montpellier, Racing unable to take advantage of Nadolo's yellow card in the 32nd minute.

Sean Robinson was sin-binned for Racing six minutes after the restart, Montpellier awarded a penalty try after the full-back had prevented Vincent Martin from receiving the ball cleanly.

Willie du Plessis converted that score and then added the extras to his own double as Montpellier ran riot in the second half.

Pierre Spies and Timoci Nagusa finished off the rout as Montpellier chalked up a fourth win in five matches.