Top 14, r4 preview - Racing out for revenge against Clermont; SF bring back the big guns

31 August 2010

Top 14, Round 04 fixtures (Current league position in brackets)

Montpellier (5th)

Stade Toulousain (1st)

Stade Yves du Manoir, 01/09/10, 18.00

Montpellier pulled off THE result of Round 3 with their stunning 16-6 away win at Perpignan - ending a near two-year unbeaten spell at the Stade Aimé Giral for the Catalans - but there is no respite for Fabien Galthié's team as they play host to European champs (and early league leaders) Stade Toulousain. Can the Mediterranean side make it a remarkable win double? Well, Montpellier are certainly a tough nut to crack at home and they do have form against Toulouse as well, winning 16-11 against Guy Noves' side at the Stade Yves du Manoir in 2009. Confidence should also be sky high after their weekend victory and with French fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc currently in irresistible form then anything is possible. Club captain Fulgence Ouedraogo admitted beating Toulouse will be another massive test, and attempted to downplay their prospects. "We have to try and recuperate as best we can and iron out some mistakes we made. The win over Perpignan has done wonders for morale, but we have insufficient time to prepare for the match with Toulouse," he said. Toulouse arrive fresh from their 34-16 home win against previously unbeaten Stade Francais, but the serious training injury to Yann David will undoubtedly have been a blow. To help balance out the loss of the talented young centre the visitors will welcome back fit-again flanker Yannick Nyanga, who is set to make his first-team return 320 days after rupturing the patellar tendon in his right knee (against Harlequins in the Heineken Cup). The visitors are also likely to include Byron Kelleher again after his substitute's appearance against Stade Francais. In-form winger Maxime Médard will be looking for this fourth try in as many games as Toulouse seek the victory that should keep them top.    
Last season: Montpellier 12 Stade Toulousain 30
Verdict: Montpellier win

La Rochelle (7th)

Toulon (9th)

Stade Marcel Deflandre, 01/09/10, 19.00

Before the 2010/11 season began this fixture would have looked a no-brainer for tipsters expecting a routine away win, but the crazy opening to the new campaign makes this an absolutely crucial encounter for the cash-rich visitors from the Cote d'Azur. Last season's relative success has now been confined to the memory banks after two surprise home defeats for Philippe Saint-André's team, meaning the head coach has shelves plans to rest his stars for what previously would have appeared a very winnable away game. The fact La Rochelle have confounded critics who predicted a doom-laden season with successive home wins - against Castres and Bourgoin - means the hosts go into this match in a healthy seventh position, and two places above their illustrious opponents. Toulon did manage to bounce back from their first home defeat by winning at Biarritz, and Saint-André will be looking for a similar response on the Atlantic coast on Wednesday night. The prospect of ending Round 4 with three defeats from four games should be inspiration enough for the away side, but they will be given no quarter at a sold out Stade Marcel Deflandre. To add to Toulon's concerns they will be without injured centre Mafileo Kefu.   
Last season: La Rochelle were in ProD2
Verdict: Toulon win

Perpignan (12th)

Biarritz (10th)

Stade Aimé Giral, 01/09/10, 19.00

Who would have thought Perpignan against Biarritz would read 12th against 10th? It may be early in the season but both these sides have shown worrying fragility in the opening weeks of a strangely topsy-turvy season. Perpignan desperately need to bounce back from their shock home defeat against Montpellier at the weekend, while Biarritz will need to lift their game considerably to avoid slipping to a third successive league defeat. Their weekend reverse away to SU Agen confirmed that all is not well within the Basque ranks and the Catalans will hope to play on that as they begin life back at the Stade Aimé Giral following the end of their near two-year unbeaten home run. The 2009 champions squeaked home 19-14 last season, but their mounting injury problems preclude any thoughts of complacency as they continue to shuffle their back line. Biarritz welcome back influential scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili, and the French international will have to be at his most lethal with the boot if they are to emerge with the win. Damien Traille remains sidelined and the ill-chosen experiment of Iain Balshaw at No 10 has been rightly brought to a halt. Instead Jean-Pascal Barraque begins at fly-half with Australian Haylett-Petty beginning at full-back. Imanol Harinordoquy is at No 8.  
Last season: Perpignan 19 Biarritz 14
Verdict: Perpignan win

Stade Francais (3rd)

Castres (6th)

Stade Charléty, 01/09/10, 19.00

Stade Francais boss Michael Cheika has brought back his big guns after resting them for Saturday's 34-16 away defeat at Stade Toulousain. Hulking centre Mathieu Bastareaud - complete with new streamlined haircut (see photo) - is back in the starting XV, alongside the likes of Dimitri Szarzewski, Tom Palmer, Sergio Parisse and the half-back pairing of Julien Dupuy and Lionel Beauxis. There is no place, however, for Juan Manuel Leguizamon after the Argentine international was cited for an alleged eye-gouging incident against Stade Toulousain's Jean Bouilhou at the weekend. England sevens international Ollie Phillips is paired on the wing with the rested Julien Arias, while in-form Scottish full-back Hugo Southwell continues at No 15. Stade have won both of their home games to date and will be desperate to make that three against a Castres side that took a while to get going at the weekend before eventually overpowering Bayonne. Romain Teulet remarkably went past 2,000 points for the club in that game and his kicking is likely to play a crucial role in Wednesday's clash. The hosts go into this match as the leading scorers so far in Top 14 - with 100 to their name already - so Castres' notoriously frugal defence will be put to the test at the Stade Charléty.    
Last season: Stade Francais 44 Castres 18
Verdict: Stade Francais win

Bourgoin  (14th)

SU Agen (13th)

Stade Pierre Rajon, 01/09/10, 19.00

Strange as it may seem to sat at this early stage of the season but Bourgoin go into this home clash with Agen knowing that nothing but a victory will suffice if their 2010/11 campaign isn't to fizzle out before it's even really begun. The troubled Issoire club go into this match point-less, shot of confidence and with the knowledge they are the only team in Top 14 which has yet to even register a single try so far this season. Those are statistics to make most head coach's fear for their very future, and there's no doubting that a home reverse against Agen - likely to be one of their relegation rivals come the end of the season - would further undermine president Gaston Maulin's faith in the current set-up. The one glimmer of hope for Bourgoin is that Agen appear to have thrown away the trusted maxim of not fixing what ain#t broke by making 11 changes to the team which beat Biarritz at home at the weekend to register their own first win of the season. Whether that adds fresh legs or detracts from the winning spirit remains to be seen.     
Last season: SU Agen were in ProD2
Verdict: Bourgoin win

Bayonne (4th)

Brive (11th)

Stade Jean Dauger, 01/09/10, 19.00

At half-time on Saturday Bayonne appeared to be heading for an unlikely third successive league win of the season, but the Basques ran out of fuel badly after the break as they let a 19-16 lead evaporate into a 25-16 defeat. Ill-discipline played its part as they gifted Romain Teulet countless penalty attempts and they will have to retain their cool if they're to bounce back with a home win over Brive. The visitors arrive vanquished after their 33-9 defeat at derby rivals Clermont, but their team selection at the weekend indicated they were placing somewhat more emphasis on winning this match. Another home win for Bayonne should consolidate their current top six standing, and could well leave Brive either in or on the fringes of the drop zone. The Limousin club snapped up Argentine scrum-half Agustin Figuerola this week to cover the injury loss of Jean-Baptiste Péjoine, but it is probably too soon for the new arrival to feature. That should leave the No 9 duties to Mathieu Belie and Shaun Perry, if the latter has recovered sufficiently from his calf strain. Bayonne have injury problems of their own and will be without influential fly-half Benjamin Boyet.    
Last season: Bayonne 33 Brive 25
Verdict: Bayonne win

Racing-Métro 92 (8th)

Clermont Auvergne (2nd)

Stade Yves du Manoir, 01/09/10, 19.00

no-one can now doubt the serious title credentials of Racing-Métro 92, and the ambitious Parisians will have the scent of revenge in their nostrils as they welcome champions Clermont Auvergne to the Stade Yves du Manoir. This may be Racing's first home game of the season but they have already registered two impressive away wins following their triumphs at Brive and (last weekend) Toulon. However, it is last season's controversial 21-17 quarter-final defeat by Clermont that will be uppermost in their minds on Wednesday night. A couple of dubious reffing decisions infuriated Racing boss Pierre Berbizier on that occasion, so what better way to release the frustration than by downing the reigning French champions in Paris? The hosts will have to make do again without Springbok Francois Steyn, but Benjamin Fall, Juan Martin Hernández, Sébastien Chabal, Lionel Nallet and Nicolas Durand are all in the match-day squad. Clermont should travel with confidence high after thrashing Brive 33-9 at the weekend, but they lost 33-24 here last season and will know that Racing have strengthened considerably since then.        
Last season: Racing-Métro 33 Clermont Auvergne 24
Verdict: Racing win

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