Top 14, r11 preview - Title aspirations on the line as leaders Castres travel to Perpignan

29 October 2009

Top 14, Round 11 fixtures (Current league position in brackets)

Perpignan (4th)

Castres (1st)

Stade Aimé Giral, 30/10/09, 20.45

Few would have predicted this to be a top-of-the-table clash before this season kicked off, and even fewer would have had Castres as Top 14's leaders at this point, but league tables don't lie. Castres are deservedly at the top of the pile right now having lost fewer games than anyone else (two), and will travel to the Stade Aime Giral with all the confidence that brings. That, however, might not be enough for the visitors in light of Perpignan's unbeaten home record, their excellent away win in Paris last weekend and the fact that the current champions will be only too happy to administer a metaphorical slap on Friday evening. And if all that wasn't enough to send shivers down the spines of Castres coaches Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit, then they also have the ensuing home triple against Clermont Auvergne, Stade Toulousain and Biarritz to consider. 'Rise to challenge' will be their message to the Castres players, and in many respects the current leaders have little to lose by journeying to Catalan country. Few expect them to win, a fact that might enable them to play free of pressure.
Last season:
Perpignan 16 Castres 9
Castres 26 Perpignan 32
Verdict: Perpignan win

Racing-Métro 92 (8th)

Stade Toulousain (3rd)

Stade Yves du Manoir, 31/10/09, 14.30

Racing-Métro should go into this game with confidence high after last week's 18-10 win at Brive - their third successive league victory - but they will also be up against a Stade Toulousain side showing signs of finding their true form in recent weeks. The south west giants are on a five-match unbeaten run and dispatched Biarritz with ease last weekend as they continued to emerge from their early-season somnolence. Scrum-half Byron Kelleher should be in buoyant mood after escaping a jail sentence this week - for his drink-driving escape - while fly-half Frédéric Michalak will also have been bolstered by his recall to the France squad, along with most of his club colleagues! Racing will thus need to be at their most resolute to deny Guy Noves' team, with big performances especially required from the likes of Sébastien Chabal, Lionel Nallet and Francois Steyn.
Last season: Racing-Métro 92 were in ProD2 last season
Verdict: Stade Toulousain win

SCA Albi (14th)

Montpellier (12th)

Stade Municipal d'Albi, 31/10/09, 14.30

Nobody really expected anything other than a season-long struggle for SCA Albi, but head coach Eric Béchu felt sufficiently moved by his team's current plight to write an open letter offering his resignation this week. Albi have won just once in 10 games since being promoted and are becoming increasingly cut adrift at the foot of the table, but Béchu's move could prove a canny piece of psychology if it works to inspire his players to raise their game for Saturday's visit of Montpellier. The Mediterranean side should travel with spirits up after last weekend's 16-9 home win against Clermont Auvergne, but that will have to be tempered by their woeful away record of five defeats from five. Montpellier certainly take this season's Jekyll and Hyde award so far, having also notched home wins against Perpignan, Biarritz and Toulon, while going down to the likes of Brive, Bayonne and Racing-Métro on their travels. One consistent in an otherwise erratic season has been the form of fly-half/centre Francois Trinh-Duc, and Montpol will once again look to their French international to inspire a maiden away win.
Last season: SCA Albi were in ProD2
Verdict: SCA Albi win

Bayonne (13th)

Toulon (6th)

Stade Jean Dauger, 31/10/09, 14.30

Two head coaches have already been dismissed so far this season and it now appears that Richard Dourthe's tenure at Bayonne has come to an end after his team's latest reverse - a 6-15 home defeat by Castres. That last result saw the Basques slip into the dreaded drop zone and confirms an alarming loss of form compared to last season, when they challenged for a Heineken Cup berth throughout. Eroded confidence - like at Brive - is proving the main problem, with Dourthe admitting as much after 'clear the air' talks between coaches and players earlier this week. Fear of failure inhibits players as much as coaches, but Dourthe tried to remain positive this week and asserted that his squad would do likewise on the pitch some Saturday. A club announcement on Thursday, however, confirmed that Dourthe had effectively been removed from his post with immediate affect, being replaced by Thierry Mentières and Jean-Philippe Coyola. Dourthe will remain at the club but has been "withdrawn" from first-team coaching, according to a statement from president Francis Salagoity. According to press reports Dourthe's demotion came after a group of six senior players approached Salagoity to seek the head coach's removal. What affect that has on team affairs remains to be seen but Bayonne will certainly have to lift their game if they're to overcome a Toulon side that put indifferent recent form behind them with a thumping 46-28 home win against Bourgoin last weekend. Philippe Saint-André is currently operating free of the pressure encumbering his Bayonne counterpart and will be hoping his team can register only their second away win of the season as they seek to consolidate their presence in their top six. They will have to do so, however. without England fly-half and Top 14's leading scorer Jonny Wilkinson, who is away on international duty. Sebastien Fauqué will start in his place. 
Last season:
Bayonne 19 Toulon 15
Toulon 3 Bayonne 3
Verdict: Toulon win

Bourgoin (10th)

Brive (11th)

Stade Pierre Rajon, 31/10/09, 14.30

Pressure, pressure. Some teams crack under it, others thrive. Bourgoin faced bankruptcy and possible liquidation earlier in the season and yet responded by digging deep - both into their pockets and into their depth of team spirit. The result was a run of five league wins in seven games that saw catapult up to the fringes of the play-off zone. Brive, by contrast, appear to have crumbed when faced with pressure and are now trying to pick up the pieces after a shambolic start to the season. Their own pressure was that of raised expectation levels, brought about by their sixth-placed finish last season and another round of summer investment. Instead of flying high and challenging France's traditional 'Big Four' they instead find themselves heading into this weekend just two points off the relegation zone and fresh from the culling of head coach Laurent Seigne. Ugo Mola's first match in charge is certainly a tough challenge with Bourgoin unbeaten at home since their opening-day 37-28 defeat by Clermont Auvergne. The Limousin club has now won just three of its 12 matches to date this season and desperately needs to get something from this fixture to avoid sliding further towards the trap door to ProD2. It may be an unthinkable notion for 'Les Corrèziens' to contemplate, but denial is the mistress of failure.
Last season:
Bourgoin 19 Brive 19
Brive 20 Bourgoin 12
Verdict: Bourgoin win

Clermont Auvergne (2nd)

Stade Francais (7th)

Stade Marcel Michelin, 31/10/09, 16.25

This heavyweight clash has been handed added piquancy by both sides losing last weekend - with Clermont surprisingly going down at Montpellier and Stade Francais being beaten at 'home' by Perpignan. Head coaches Vern Cotter and Jacques Delmas will no doubt have read the riot act to their respective squads this week and will be looking for a suitable response from both sets of players. Stade's loss was their first under Delmas and it will be particularly fascinating to see how the men in pink bounce back. Clermont will undoubtedly start as favourites owing to home advantage, and the fact they haven't lost a league match at the Stade Marcel Michelin since their 25-30 reverse to Montauban more than a year ago. They also have the fond memories of last year's double over Stade upon which to draw. The Parisians are further handicapped by the loss of fly-half Lionel Beauxis.
Last season:
Clermont Auvergne 22 Stade Francais 6
Stade Francais 19 Clermont Auvergne 21
Verdict: Clermont Auvergne win

Montauban (9th)

Biarritz (4th)

Stade Sapiac, 31/10/09, 20.45

Marc Raynaud's Montauban head into this match having beaten SCA Albi 20-6 last weekend to end a three-match losing streak, while Biarritz are looking to respond following the abrupt termination (by Stade Toulousain) of their seven-game winning run. The hosts have already lost twice at home this season and will be keen not to add to that so early in the campaign, but the Basques will arrive knowing an away win will further consolidate their own standing in the upper echelons of the table. The loss of Argentine full-back Marcelo Bosch is a disruption they could have done without, but with Dimitri Yachvili and Imanol Harinordoquy both in sparkling form of late - as well as English flanker Magnus Lund - they could have enough firepower and class to test the home side's defence. American winger Takudzwa Ngwenya also gives them rapier speed out wide if they can provide clean ball.
Last season:
Montauban 19 Biarritz 12
Biarritz 38 Montauban 10
Verdict: Biarritz win

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