Top 14 returns to action tonight - on Friday 13th of all days! - with the start of the eagerly anticipated 2010/11 season. It seems, and indeed is, barely weeks since Clermont Auvergne finally won their maiden Bouclier de Brennus, and what better way to start the new French campaign than with a re-run of their final clash against Perpignan? This time it is being played at the Catalans’ imposing home ground (at the Stade Aimé Giral) rather than in Paris (at the Stade de France), but both teams will be out to make their own point at the start of the 2010/11 season.

Top 14 Table 2009/10

Perpignan may have lost last year’s final but they will surely start as favourites tonight due to that home advantage after winning all of their league matches at the Stade Aimé Giral last season. Having said that, they will (as ever) be going into the game with concerns over their half-back pairing following Nicolas Durand’s summer departure to Racing-Metro and an injury that has already sidelined fly-half Nicolas Laharrague for up to three months.

The latter’s absence will mean an unexpected start for 33-year-old Manny Edmonds, who originally re-signed for Perpignan in the summer (from Bayonne) to join their coaching staff.

Clermont coach Vern Cotter has opted to rest French scrum-half Morgan Parra for the trip to Perpignan, while Georgian prop Davit Zirakashvili has been ruled out with a calf injury – paving the way for Argentine Martin Scelzo to make the starting XV. Former All Black number eight Sione Lauaki is set for a league debut for ‘Les Jaunards’ after impressing during their friendlies.

An away trip to European champions Stade Toulousain may look a nightmare start for ProD2 champions SU Agen, but in reality it should actually take some pressure off as no-one will be expecting anything other than a loss at the Stade Ernest Wallon.

But Agen have been in impressive form during pre-season and go into the game knowing Toulouse will have a significant number of international absentees due to injury or rest.

Scrum-half Byron Kelleher is not fit enough after his pre-season was delayed by a broken jaw sustained playing for the Barbarians against Ireland, and with Frederic Michalak still injured and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde now a coach that means a Toulouse debut for new Argentine signing Nicolas Vergallo. The 17-time French champions will also be without Patricio Albacete, Shaun Sowerby, Alberto Vernet Basualdo, Vilimone Delasau and Yves Donguy, clearing the way for former Bourgoin flanker Sylvain Nicolas to also make his debut.

Top 14 Transfers 2010/11

Agen have absentees too, with veteran Fijian winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca not fit enough to take part after an extended off-season that again tested his relationship with the club. They will also be without two other Fijians in the shape of Saimoni Vaka and new signing Osea Kolinisau, but former Biarritz fly-half Valentin Courrent makes his debut at No 10 for the visitors as they go in search of what would be an excellent defensive point. That would certainly be an improvement on their last visit to the Stade Ernest Wallon, when they went down 47-0 in March 2007.

Big-spending Racing-Métro 92 travel to Brive for their opening match, but will be without Springbok centre Francois Steyn after the South African picked up a pre-season niggle. New Argentine signing Juan Martin Hernandez is also not recovered sufficiently from the back operation which curtailed his South African sojourn last year - and club captain Lionel Nallet is also out - but fellow new recruits Benjamin Fall, Mirco Bergamasco and Durand are all raring to go, along with fit-again Sebastien Chabal, who has been in superb pre-season form. Jonathan Wisniewski will start at fly-half.

Top 14 Fixtures 2010/11

Brive go into the new campaign with a scaled down squad, and similarly scaled down ambitions. There will be no Heineken Cup distractions for the Limousin club this season, and their free-spending days appear to be over after the departure of the likes of Riki Flutey, Steve Thompson, Horacio Agulla and Andy Goode. Ugo Mola’s squad has a deliberately more French feel to it this campaign, and the Brive head coach will be looking to the likes of Fabrice Estebanez and Alexis Palisson (along with remaining ‘foreigners’ such as Jamie Noon, Shaun Perry and Alix Popham) to spearhead the club’s hopes of getting off to a winning start.

Heineken Cup runners-up Biarritz begin their season with a home game against Montpellier, but the hosts sprung a surprise on Thursday when they announced that American winger Takudzwa Ngwenya  and Fijian international Ilikena Bolakoro have both been suspended after an undisclosed breach of club discipline. Their absence adds to those already of key players Damien Traille and Imanol Harinordoquy – both to injury – but the Basques should still have enough to prevail over a Montpellier side being reshaped by former Stade Francais boss Fabien Galthié.

Biarritz will also be without injured centre Ayoola Erinle, but they did at least have some good news to celebrate yesterday when England World Cup winner Iain Balshaw agreed a two-year contract extension. The 31-year-old is likely to start on the wing due to Ngwenya’s absence, while new signing Erik Lund is set for a debut alongside his brother Magnus.

Montpellier will have France fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc partnering Julien Thomas at half-back, while club captain Fulgence Ouedraogo will also start. Nineteen-year-old winger Philippe Berard makes the bench.

Stade Francais begin life under new head coach Michael Cheika with a home game against Bourgoin that should get them off to a winning start.

Scotland’s Hugo Southwell begins at full-back with Stade including debutant Gonzalo Tiesi in the centre, alongside Mathieu Bastareaud. England sevens international Ollie Phillips partners Julien Arias on the wing, with new club captain Sergio Parisse leading the forwards. French international Julien Dupuy is back in Stade’s garish new colours after completing his six-month ban for eye-gouging, and will partner fly-half Lionel Beauxis as the Parisians look for a maximum return on the opening weekend.

Bourgoin have once more been beset by financial problems during the off season but will at least travel having had four player licences unblocked by the DNACG last week. One of those, however, is still unavailable for the season opener after Silver Tian was ruled out with an injury.

Toulon start 2010/11 as many people’s favourites to win their first French title since 1992 this season, but they will be without fly-half Jonny Wilkinson for their opening home match against Bayonne.

The 31-year-old was fit enough to start, but team manager Tom Whitford said Toulon had opted to rest Wilkinson as Top 14 rules stipulate that players involved in summer internationals are only allowed to play two of the opening three league games. That means Argentina’s Felipe Contepomi will begin at No 10, but Toulon will surely have enough quality to brush aside a Bayonne side looking to improve vastly on last year’s poor form.

Toulon – who are also without first-choice scrum-half Pierre Mignoni - will hand debuts to a number of major summer signings, including prop Carl Hayman, winger Paul Sackey, lock Dean Schofield and flanker George Smith as they seek to build on their unbeaten pre-season form.

Bayonne‘s cause has not been helped by injuries to captain Remy Martin and new signings Joe Pietersen and Troy Flavell, while Ross Filippo’s late withdrawal has further hit their plans. Former Bourgoin fly-half Benjamin Boyet makes his debut alongside scrum-half partner Julien Audy.