Top 14 kicks back into
action tonight with a tasty match-up between Stade Francais
and Toulon that is merely the hors d’ouevre to a weekend
menu packed with tantalising feasts.
On paper
tonight’s Paris clash should be a straightforward home win
for Stade as they seek the win which would guarantee them
Top 14 leadership for at least 36 hours, but the news that
Tana Umaga is in the Toulon squad and set to make his
playing comeback has made for added spice.
Five
more games follow on Saturday afternoon with fifth-placed
Bayonne trying to get back to winning ways as they take on a
Perpignan side coming to terms with life without Dan Carter,
while Montauban captain Marc Raynaud leads his troops into
battle against Montpellier in his first match since
confirmation he will be stepping up to the position of coach
next season.
Top 14 Table
Brive –
the focus of so much attention in the British press this
week after Riki Flutey’s signing – entertain Biarritz as
they continue their quest for a top six finish, while Dax
versus Castres and Mont-de-Marsan versus Bourgoin sees four
of the bottom five clubs come face to face.
It all
makes for another intriguing weekend in Top 14 as the
business end of the season draws ever nearer.
Stade Francais v Toulon,
Stade Jean Bouin, 20/02/09, 20.35
There
will be no greater motivation for Stade Francais going into
this match than knowing a victory will lift them back to the
top of the league for the first time since late October. It
may only be for 36 hours - as Toulouse play host to Clermont
on Sunday afternoon – but it will provide a welcome boost
nonetheless. The loss of French fly-half Lionel Beauxis is
an undoubted blow for the hosts, but Ewen McKenzie’s troops
should still have too much for struggling Toulon.
Player-coach Tana Umaga may have to something to say about
that, however, and is set to make his eagerly anticipated
comeback alongside Sonny Bill Williams in the centres. SBW’s
likely confrontation with fellow rugby league convert Mark
Gasnier makes for another fascinating side-battle, while
Toulon’s form in overcoming Mont-de-Marsan 38-22 last time
out hints at better things to come. South African fly-half
Conrad Bernard is set to make his debut for Toulon following
his signing from the Cheetahs, while Stade Francais go into
the match unbeaten in six league outings.
Verdict: Stade Francais win
Montauban v Montpellier,
Stadium Sapiac, 20/02/09, 14.30
Mid-table rivalry doesn’t come any closer than this with
seventh-placed Montauban playing host to eighth-placed
Montpellier with just one point separating the two teams.
Inconsistency has been a feature for both sides this season
with neither able to string together three successive wins,
although Montauban should start as favourites after going
down just twice at the Stade Sapiac – to Toulouse and
Perpignan. Captain, and future coach, Marc Raynaud returns
to boost the home side, while Montpellier arrive still in a
state of crisis following the presidential shenanigans that
has undone their season. They did manage a victory last time
out – away to lowly Dax – but the current uncertainty
surrounding the club cannot be good for morale, and they
will also be without rested French international Fulgence
Ouedraogo.
Verdict: Montauban win
Brive v Biarritz, Stade
Amédée Domenech, 21/02/09, 14.30
England
fly-half, and the division’s leading scorer, Andy Goode
returns for Brive this weekend as the ambitious Limousin
club seeks to take another step up the Top 14 ladder.
Victory here could see them leapfrog Bayonne into fifth
spot, and momentum is certainly with the hosts following a
run that has seen them lose just once in their last 11
outings (including European games). But they will be up
against a Biarritz side that itself has been rejuvenated by
recent results, most notably their 17-13 home win against
Toulouse last time out. Victory here would make it three
league wins in a row for the first time this season, but
Brive have only lost once at home so far at the Stade Amédée
Domenech.
Verdict: Brive win
Dax v Castres, Stadium
Maurice Boyau, 21/02/09, 14.30
Thomas
Lievremont’s Dax have successfully avoided the relegation
battle so far this season, but with just one league victory
since the beginning of November they are now perilously
placed to fall into the drop zone. Victory for Castres would
ensure the visitors haul themselves out of the bottom two,
and internationals Lionel Nallet and Sebastien Tillous-Borde
are both expected to start. Recent results favour the
visitors with two draws and a one-point defeat in their last
three games suggesting that a late-season push could see
them ease clear of the threat of Pro D2 rugby next season.
Verdict: Castres win
Mont-de-Marsan v Bourgoin,
Stade Guy Boniface, 21/02/09, 14.30
The
weekend’s other basement battle sees bottom club
Mont-de-Marsan take on 10th-placed Bourgoin. Les
Montois appeared dead and buried back in November but they
have since won three of their last four home games to give
themselves a glimmer of hope in their battle to avoid
seemingly inevitable relegation. For that to be achieved it
is imperative they register another win at the Stade Guy
Boniface on Saturday to close the four-point gap currently
between themselves and both Castres and Toulon. Bourgoin
have also shown decent(ish) form of late, winning three of
their last six league games to keep themselves just ahead of
the relegation pack, but defeat here would be a major set
back.
Verdict:
Mont-de-Marsan win
Bayonne v Perpignan, Stade
Jean Dauger, 21/02/09, 16.30
This is
an absolutely crucial match for Bayonne as the play-off
hopefuls seek their first league win since November 22 after
a disastrous run that has seen them drop 10 points behind
fourth-placed Clermont. The Catalans eased to a 38-10
victory in the corresponding home fixture (back in
September) and should come in brimming with confidence after
losing just once in their last 10 league outings, but this
will be their first game since losing Dan Carter to injury
in a continuation of the season-long curse that has struck
the club’s No 10 shirt. Newly signed Argentine Ignacio
Mieres is set to become the eighth player to start at
fly-half for Perpignan this season and the continued
disruption to the half-back combination is a major problem.
The Catalans will also have to make do without the likes of
injured internationals Nathan Hines and Maxime Mermoz,
although former England prop Perry Freshwater does travel. A
bonus-point win could lift Perpignan into top spot – if
Toulon somehow upset Stade Francais – while defeat for
Bayonne could see them slip further away from their
early-season dream of a Top four finish.
Verdict: Perpignan win
Toulouse v Clermont, Stade
Ernest Wallon, 22/02/09, 16.30
The
weekend’s last game could also be its best with Toulouse and
Clermont going head-to-head in a replay of last season’s Top
14 play-off final. Defending champions Toulouse went down
16-6 at Clermont earlier in the season and go into this
match in the unlikely position of seeking their first win
since January 10th after a home defeat by Glasgow
was followed by a 3-3 draw at Bath, before going down 17-13
away to resurgent Biarritz in their last Top 14 outing.
Former All Black scrum-half Byron Kelleher remains sidelined
with injury and many of Guy Noves’ star-laden squad have had
a busy fortnight of international action prior to this
weekend. Clermont, on the other hand, are one of Top 14’s
form sides having found their attacking flair of late,
running up 126 points in their last four league fixtures.
Will that be enough to carry them to success at the Stade
Ernest Wallon, or will Toulouse re-stamp their champions’
authority with a return to the form that saw them win 15
matches on the spin before their Glasgow debacle?
Verdict: Toulouse win
