Defending champions Clermont Auvergne will travel to Perpignan on the opening day – Friday 13^th no less -  with the other opening day fixtures seeing newcomers La Rochelle at home to Castres and SU Agen away to Stade Toulousain. All matches on the first two rounds will be played in the evenings to ease player hardship in the searing heat of August.

The final round of games – the 26^th – will take place on May 7^th, with the quarter-finals on May 13/14, the semi-finals on May 27/28 and the final – at the Stade de France – on June 4^th.

The LNR has confirmed that there will be two “duplicate” weekends - in rounds 18 and 21 - when Top 14 clashes with French international matches, while all those in the France squad will also not be released for round 19 – although it is a blank weekend in the Six Nations.

Furthermore, to help reduce the international clashes, there will be four midweek rounds – the 4^th, 12^th, 14^th and 17^th rounds.

The LNR also confirmed that upwards of 20 matches will be relocated to bigger stadiums as clubs seek to capitalise on the continuing rise in Top 14 crowds.

Stade Toulousain, Stade Francais, Toulon, Bourgoin, Biarritz and Bayonne have all announced plans to move certain fixtures to bigger stadiums – as they did in 2009/10 – while Castres, Racing-Metro and SU Agen have joined the trend in 2010/11.

Agen have moved two of their home games to the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux – against Stade Toulousain and Clermont Auvergne – while Biarritz and Bayonne plan a game apiece at the Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian, although that could rise to two if they are granted permission to hold the Basque derby there as well in round 22.

Bourgoin have shifted two of their home games to Grenoble – against Toulon and Racing Metro – while Stade Toulousain will play their home games against Stade Francais, Racing, Perpignan and Clermont at the city’s football stadium.

The ongoing power-struggle at Montpellier shows no signs of abating despite former president Thierry Perez being forced to step aside last week. Perez resigned last week – along with the entire board – after pressure from George Frêche, the president of the Languedoc-Roussillon council, who has threatened to withdraw nearly €1m worth of grants.

A general meeting on July 9^th is now expected to ratify Olivier Nicollin and Jean-Pierre Massines as joint presidents, but the back stage politics have not gone down well with club captain and French international Fulgence Ouedraogo.

“These events are extremely damaging,” Ouedraogo said this week. “Obviously, we the players are wondering what is happening. We cannot remain indifferent in our corner, even if it is not us who will decide,” he added.

Ouedraogo was unequivocal in his support of Perez, openly questioning Frêche's motives. “Mr Frêche has literally put a spoke in the wheel, there are no other words,” he told Midi Olympique. “I do not understand his motives and above all he uses the club for political purposes and it is we, the players, who end up in the squash,” said Ouedraogo.

The international flanker went on: “Who has recruited the new staff? Who brought in Fabien Galthié? Who is the guarantor of the training policy? Thierry Perez has the club on his shoulders for many years. Now it’s as if we’ve cut the grass from under our own feet,” he said.