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Top 14, r14 preview - Buoyant Castres
eye up overall lead; Wilkinson set for Paris stage
27 November
2009
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Back in pink: Stade Francais'
England flanker James Haskell
Photo: Michael Paler |
Top 14 begins its return
fixtures this weekend as round 14 sees the beginning of the
second half of the regular season.
The somewhat sizeable
distraction of France against the All Blacks has caused
three matches to move to Friday night, including the
headline clash between Stade Francais and Toulon.
Last weekend's results threw up
a number of surprise results - no more so than basement club
SCA Albi beating leaders and champions Perpignan - and while
coaches may bemoan the absence of international stars there
is no doubt that the evening of the playing field adds a
definite spice to the fixtures.
Top 14 Table
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Top 14 try-scorers
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Top 14 Results
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Top 14
Fixtures
Stade Toulousain, Perpignan,
Stade Francais and Clermont Auvergne are the teams hit
hardest by those absentees, and it was no coincidence that
all four lost last weekend. This time out Stade Francais
welcome a Toulon side boosted by Jonny Wilkinson's return,
while Stade Toulousain entertain local rivals Montauban.
Clermont should get back to
winning ways with a home match against lowly Bourgoin, but
Perpignan face another potential banana skin as they travel
down to the Basque country to play Bayonne.
In the other matches
joint-leaders Castres welcome Biarritz to town after both
recorded significant victories last weekend, while
Racing-Métro 92 host bottom-placed Albi as the Parisians go
in search of a sixth straight league win. Montpellier have
also strung together their best ever run in Top 14 and they
will be optimistic of making it five consecutive league wins
when they take on struggling Brive.
Previous round-ups:
Round 1 /
Round 2 /
Round 3 /
Round 4 /
Round 5 /
Round 6 /
Round 7 /
Round 8 /
Round 9 /
Round 10 /
Round 11 /
Round 12 /
Round 13 /
Top 14, Round 14 fixtures
(Current league position in brackets)
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Stade Francais (7th) |
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Toulon (5th) |
Stade Jean Bouin,
27/11/09, 19.45 |
Stade's revival under
Jacques Delmas and Didier Faugeron has faltered somewhat of
late with just one league win in their last four games,
including last weekend's 20-18 defeat at Paris neighbours
Racing. International calls and injuries again severely
deplete the hosts, but at least they have James
Haskell, Pascal Papé and Hugo Southwell back in their squad for Friday night's game,
allowing centre Mathieu Bastareaud to return to his usual
position after impressing at No 8 last weekend. Toulon
will similarly be boosted by the return of England fly-half
Jonny Wilkinson, although the absence of Juan Lobbe (with
Argentina) will be keenly felt, especially with English
flanker Joe El Abd also out (through injury). But Felipe
Contepomi and Sonny Bill Williams are both in the squad
again after having their first run-outs of the season during
last week's 19-10 home win against Brive. Philippe
Saint-André's side arrive in good shape after three wins in
their last four games, but it's never easy to win in Paris.
These two sides kicked off the 2009/10 season with a 22-22
draw down in Toulon on a balmy August evening, and it could
be a similarly tight affair again this time around.
Last season:
Stade Francais 22 Toulon 12
Toulon 13 Stade Francais 19
This season:
Toulon 22 Stade Francais 22
Verdict: Draw
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Racing-Métro 92(8th) |
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SCA Albi (14th) |
Stade Yves du
Manoir,
27/11/09, 21.00 |
Racing play host to
basement club SCA Albi with both teams bolstered by
excellent wins last weekend. Racing's 20-18 home victory
over Stade Francais was their fifth in succession in the
league, and they must fancy their chances of making that six
as the division's bottom club come to town. Albi, on the
other hand, recorded a shock 24-23 home win against
Perpignan last weekend, and confidence must surely have been
boosted by that. Their victory was only their second of the
season, however, and they still remain nine points adrift at
the foot of the table. Realistically their ambitions are
probably limited to trying to sneak a defensive bonus,
although they will be cheered by the absence of Racing's two
French internationals Lionel Nallet and Sebastien Chabal.
Both these teams were playing in ProD2 last season, but the
difference between their respective financial resources and
playing squads is huge. Racing did the league double over
Albi last season, and kicked off this campaign with a 19-13
away win. Another victory here for Racing will most likely
send the ambitious Parisians into the play-off berths, while
defeat for Albi could further widen the gap between
themselves and Top 14 survival. All Black veteran Andrew
Mehrtens resumes at fly-half for Racing, in place of
Jonathan Wisniewski, while Australian Nic Berry comes in at
scrum-half. Italian centre Andrea Masi also comes in, for
the injured Henry Chavancy.
Last season:
Racing-Métro 22 SCA Albi 9
SCA Albi 14 Racing-Métro 26
This season:
SCA Albi 13 Racing-Métro 19
Verdict: Racing-Métro 92 win
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Castres(2nd) |
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Biarritz (6th) |
Stade Pierre
Antoine,
27/11/09, 21.00 |
Biarritz may have done the
league double over Castres last season but the boot is very
firmly on the other foot this time around with the surprise
joint-leaders looking to return the compliment with a home
victory on Friday night. This is the last of a four-match
run that has seen them take on Perpignan, Clermont Auvergne
and Stade Toulousain in successive weeks, and Castres have
emerged with considerable credit after taking a combined
eights points from those games, and suffering just one
narrow defeat - their 17-15 reverse at Perpignan. Another
home win here could see them claim the outright leadership
of Top 14, although Biarritz will clearly be no pushovers,
as they showed by winning 16-13 at Clermont Auvergne last
weekend. That victory ended their own two-match losing
streak and once more confirmed the Basques' potential to
compete with the best this season. Injured flanker Imanol
Harinordoquy will be sorely missed, along with prop Fabien
Barcella and utility back Damien Traille, but American
speedster Takudzwa Ngwenya and England centre Ayoola Erinle
are both back from international duty and World Cup winner
Iain Balshaw is fit again after a prolonged absence. The
former England international made his playing comeback at
Clermont last weekend, while Australian rugby league star
Karmichael Hunt also made his club debut. Both will be
involved again at Castres, adding a cutting edge to
Biarritz's attacking potential. Hunt and Balshaw both make
the starting XV, while Erinle is on the bench. Castres will
be without injured full-back Florian Denos, but
internationals Joe Tekori and Rodrigo Capo Ortega are both
back.
Last season:
Castres 9 Biarritz 10
Biarritz 32 Castres 17
This season:
Biarritz 12 Castres 24
Verdict: Castres win
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Stade Toulousain (4th) |
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Montauban
(10th) |
Stade
Ernest Wallon,
28/11/09, 14.30 |
While the dual domestic and international
programme offers a certain levelling out of playing
resources - temporarily at least - it can appear a ludicrous
situation when combined with a mounting injury list. Last
week Stade Francais had 19 players unavailable to them,
Perpignan have 15 absentees this weekend, but Stade
Toulousain have been hardest hit with 20 players missing for
Saturday's home clash against local rivals Montauban. Eleven
of Guy Noves' squad are away on international duty -
including eight with France - while the likes of David
Skrela (knee), Yannick Nyanga (knee), Finau Maka (pectoral),
Louis Picamoles (knee), Bertus Swanepoel (thigh),
Jan-Baptiste Elissalde (thigh), Florian Fritz (knee),
Grégory Lamboley (shoulder) and Russlan Boukerou (shoulder)
are all ruled out through injury. Noves is notoriously
grumpy about the situation - with justification - but his
annoyance has been heightened by Stade's own erratic form
this season. The 17-time champions have already lost five
league matches - as many as in their entire 2008/9 campaign
- and they were fairly walloped as they crashed to a 30-10
defeat at Castres in round 13. Now derby rivals Montauban
are in town, seeking to avenge their last-minute home defeat
to Stade in the season's opening fixture. They will surely
never have a better opportunity to dethrone Toulouse on
their own patch and Marc Raynaud will also be reminding his
players of how close they came to doing so last season, when
they narrowly went down 9-6.
Last season:
Stade Toulousain 9 Montauban 6
Montauban 10 Stade Toulousain 41
This season:
Montauban 16 Stade Toulousain 17
Verdict: Stade Toulousain win
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Montpellier (9th) |
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Brive (11th) |
Stade
Yves du Manoir,
28/11/09, 14.30 |
Brive's recent record
against Montpellier is excellent but much has changed since
their impressive opening-day 30-9 home win against the
Mediterranean club. Pre-season optimism has now been
replaced by a fight for Top 14 survival as the subsequent 12
matches brought just three more wins, as well as the
departure of head coach Laurent Seigne. Ugo Mola
subsequently stepped into the breach and began with an away
draw at Bourgoin and home win against Bayonne, but last
week's 19-10 defeat at Toulon was a new low point for the
Limousin club as they needlessly contributed to their own
demise with three players sin-binned in the match. Now they
must face up to a Montpellier side currently on their
best-ever run in Top 14 - with four successive wins - and
hovering on the fringes of the play-off berths. Brive's
cause should be helped by the absence of Montpol duo
Francois Trinh-Duc and Fulgence Ouedraogo - both with France
- but the hosts are at least boosted by the return of
Georgian back row forward Giorgi Chkhaidze. Brive welcome
back England hooker Steve Thompson and also have Andy Goode
available again, but the latter's wayward kicking also
proved costly last weekend and appears symptomatic of the
current lack of confidence enveloping the Daniel
Derichebourg-backed club.
Last season:
Montpellier 9 Brive 22
Brive 28 Montpellier 18
This season:
Brive 30 Montpellier 9
Verdict: Montpellier win
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Bayonne
(12th) |
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Perpignan
(1st) |
Stade Jean Dauger,
28/11/09, 16.25 |
It may sound crazy to say
this is a match Bayonne should be looking to win - given the
respective league positions of these two sides - but with
Perpignan missing 15 players and continuing to be fallible
on the road then the Basques have a golden opportunity to
repeat last season's 19-13 home victory. Last weekend's
bonus-point home win against Montauban finally ended
Bayonne's five-match losing streak and new head coach
Thierry Mentières will undoubtedly be highlighting to his
players the fact Perpignan have already lost away to the
likes of Bourgoin, Montpellier, Benetton Treviso and (most
surprising of all) SCA Albi. That latter reverse came last
weekend as the Catalans were beaten 24-23 thanks to a
last-minute Kevin Boulogne penalty, and it's likely that
Bayonne will need to ensure they kick all of their
opportunities if they're to replicate the achievement of
Eric Béchu's battlers. Winger Benjamin Fall is out
injured but the real hero of last weekend's win for Bayonne
was 20-year-old fly-half Pierre Bernard. Perpignan, for
their part, will just be keen to get through this weekend as
the international series draws to a close. Like Stade
Toulousain, Clermont Auvergne and Stade Francais they have
major selection issues due to a host of absentees. In
Perpignan's case they have 15 players unavailable, with the
likes of Damien Chouly (ruptured knee ligaments),
Jean-Pierre Perez (groin), Maxime Mermoz (thigh strain),
Guillaume Vilaceca (ankle), Gerrie Britz (knee), Viliami
Vaki (shoulder), Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis (shoulder) all
injured, and Henry Tuilagi (Samoa), Ovidiu Tonita (Romania),
Marius Tincu (Romania), Nicolas Mas (France) and David Marty
(France) away on international duty.
Last season:
Bayonne 19 Perpignan 13
Perpignan 38 Bayonne 10
This season:
Perpignan 28 Bayonne 20
Verdict: Bayonne win
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Clermont Auvergne
(3rd) |
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Bourgoin (13th) |
Stade Marcel
Michelin,
28/11/09, 19.00 |
Both of these teams have
suffered a dip in form of late with neither team side having
registered a league win since October 3rd. Clermont have at
least drawn two of those intervening four matches, but last
week's 13-16 home defeat by Biarritz was their first at the
Stade Marcel Michelin in more than a year. Vern Cotter can
rightly point to a host of absentees, but nothing but a win
will do against Bourgoin, who slipped into the relegation
zone after their 20-23 home loss to Montpellier. Financial
difficulties continue to plague the Isere club and their
early-season defiance appears to have stalled somewhat amid
the weekly grind of Top 14. A defensive bonus would probably
do nicely for the visitors, but Clermont have a habit of
racking up the points against Bourgoin, and have averaged
over 40 per game in their last three meetings.
Last season:
Clermont Auvergne 57 Bourgoin 23
Bourgoin 23 Clermont Auvergne 30
This season:
Bourgoin 28 Clermont Auvergne 37
Verdict: Clermont Auvergne win
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