Top 14: Surprise packages Bourgoin and Castres take the plaudits for results so far

14 October 2009, By Colin Spiro

With just over a third of the regulation season gone – and in the midst of a two-week break for European competition – now seems an appropriate time to assess how the 2009/10 Top 14 campaign is unfolding.

Top six - Business as usual?

If someone had told you before the new season began that Clermont Auvergne would be top after nine games it wouldn’t have caused too many raised eye brows. ‘Les Jaunards’ have, after all, reached the last three Top 14 finals, even if they have lost the lot. They are certainly nothing if not consistent. News that Perpignan, Stade Toulousain and Stade Francais are all in the top six would not have been a surprise either, although the fact they are currently 4^th, 5^th and 6^th might have. The dark horses, however, have been Castres, currently riding high in second place and just a solitary point behind Clermont.

Their present elevated position is even more remarkable for the twin facts the club was hit by the H1N1 (swine-flu) virus early in the season - forcing them to play six games in just three weeks after two postponements – and that they finished a lowly 11^th in 2008/9.

New coaching duo Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit must take much credit for the turnaround after joining from Montauban – along with four players – but their new-found status will be tested fully by an upcoming fixture list that sees them travel to Bayonne and Perpignan before playing hosts to Clermont, Stade Toulousain and Biarritz. At least they will go into that batch with confidence high after their excellent start.

Top 14 Table  / Top 14 try-scorers / Top 14 Results / Top 14 Fixtures

Biarritz’s third position is also something of a turn up, especially after losing three of their first four games, but the Basques have bounced back impressively with five successive league victories followed by last weekend’s Heineken Cup win in Glasgow. As ever the fitness of Imanol Harinordoquy and Dimitri Yachvili has been key to their fortunes, with the winning run coinciding with both returning from injuries.

But Biarritz are also attempting to play a more expansive game this season after years of defence oriented rugby – a move that has clearly found favour with their fervent supporters.

Below the top three Perpignan, Stade Toulousain and Stade Francais loom ominously. Each has struggled in its own way this season, but the latter two are showing signs of coming good now. Toulouse got back on track with a 30-12 away win at Montpellier in round nine, before following up with a dynamic and dominant showing against Sale Sharks in the Heineken Cup, and simply have too much class not to be challenging come the end the end of the campaign.

Stade Francais were the early-season shockers, but have now gone five matches undefeated since sacking Ewen McKenzie and Christophe Dominici. That run has featured four bonus-point home wins and a highly creditable away draw at Toulouse, indicating that new boss Jacques Delmas appears to be getting the best out of his star-laden squad.

Defending champions Perpignan have been imperious at home, but a shadow of themselves on the road as witnessed by defeats at lowly Montpellier and Bourgoin, as well as a recent hammering at Biarritz. They also slumped to a shocking 9-8 defeat at Italian minnows Benetton Treviso in the Heineken Cup, underlining their fragility away from the Stade Aimé Giral.

It is a serious problem for the Catalans, especially with the likes of Toulon and Castres challenging for play-off places this season, although the newly expanded format of six teams being involved should prevent disaster.

Mid-table obscurity?

Toulon, Bourgoin, Racing-Métro 92 and Brive make up the next four teams although each will have differing views on how they have so far fared. Moneybags Toulon started brightly with Jonny Wilkinson kicking them to a series of victories, and even topped the table briefly before a run of four defeats in five saw them drop back. Coach Philippe Saint-Andre will point out that all four losses were away from home and three of them by three points or less – so no real cause for alarm. They were also punctuated by an excellent 18-13 home win against Stade Toulousain and Toulon will be further boosted by the imminent playing return of former rugby league star Sonny Bill Williams – a natural match-winner who showed real progress at the tail end of last season.

Eighth-placed Bourgoin have perhaps been the team of the season so far – along with Castres. They have won five of their last seven games – including a stunning 17-6 victory against Perpignan – and the mere fact they are still solvent is a minor miracle in itself. Bankruptcy loomed as the 2009/10 season got underway and they even started without 14 first-squad players owing to the fact the DNACG was withholding their licences on financial grounds.

A proposed buy-out and merger with Lyon OU then collapsed and appeared to signal their imminent demise, but a knight in shining armour arrived in the shape of new president Gaston Maulin. The players also took the highly commendable decision to take a 13% wage cut to save further cash, with club captain Julien Frier being rewarded for his part in that move with a seat on the new board this week.

The club clearly has a superb spirit and will again be looking for a good run in the Amlin Challenge Cup after last year’s final appearance. Top 14 safety will come first, but on this form that should be eminently achievable.

Newly promoted Racing-Métro 92 have had to contend with a tough opening to their fixtures – five of their first seven games were away – but are now finding their feet as they seek to acclimatise to the tougher environs of Top 14. The presence of Lionel Nallet, Sébastien Chabal and the recently arrived Springbok World Cup winner Francois Steyn has raised expectation levels, but realistically their job this year is to secure their top-flight status.

Tenth-placed Brive have been a major disappointment this season and their form is beginning to cause alarm at a club where pre-season talk was of play-off aspirations and a Heineken Cup run. Neither looks particularly likely at the moment, even if players and coaches remain bullish. But the facts remain – they have lost five of their opening nine league games, and drawn another, while they also went down to the Scarlets in Europe on Saturday.

The loss of Riki Flutey to injury was a blow, but a club of Brive’s financial resources should have been able to cope with that. Several of their defeats have admittedly been by narrow margins, but they were hammered in Toulouse (38-0) and at Stade Francais (44-16), raising serious concerns about a defence which was their strength last season.

Relegation-bound?

The bottom four of Montauban, Bayonne, Montpellier and SCA Albi will all be hoping for better things during the remaining two thirds of the season, but early poor form can often lead to a season-long struggle. Just ask Castres and Toulon about last year. The fact SCA Albi are currently bringing up the rear is no real surprise, but Eric Béchu’s team would have hoped for more than a solitary win from their opening nine games. They are already six points adrift of the next team (Montpellier) and nine points off the current relegation cut-off. That does not bode well for the former ProD2 outfit and it’s difficult to see anything other than a swift return whence they came.

Montpellier’s current situation is also not a real surprise, despite the views of their ever-optimistic supporters. Three wins in nine is simply not good enough, and their early belief that good home form would see them through has now been shattered by their 30-12 thumping by Stade Toulousain. They have some quality players in the shape of Fulgence Ouedraogo and Francois Trinh-Duc, and plenty of young talent coming through too, but their battle for preservation is likely to go right to the wire this season, especially if they continually fall down away from home – five defeats from five so far on the road.

The presence of Bayonne in 12^th slot is more of a shock, especially after the Basques battled so long for Heineken Cup qualification last season. They eventually finished seventh and only missed out to Brive on points difference, but their form has been brittle this season. Coach Richard Dourthe will take solace in the fact all six league defeats have come away from home during a lopsided opening to their fixtures and will hope a run of six home games in their next eight will see an improved return.

Bizarrely, they still have two of the top five try-scorers in the league – in the shape of Benjamin Fall (5) and Jean-Baptiste Peyras (4) – and one wouldn’t expect them to still be struggling against relegation when the business end of the season arrives.

The final team in the last quartet is Montauban, who have faded somewhat after a bright start. They are currently on a run of three successive league defeats, the most painful of which was their 12-15 home reverse against Bourgoin.

Former captain Mark Raynaud clearly has a long hard season ahead in his maiden year as head coach, but a home win against SCA Albi in their next match could provide the fillip he’s looking for. Certainly if they can replicate the form that brought them successive home wins against Toulon, Brive and Castres then they should be okay.

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