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Top 14, r26 preview:
Biarritz, Bayonne and Brive battle for Heineken Cup
qualification
14 May 2009
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Final effort: Brive's Steve
Thompson on the charge
Photo: © Diarmid Courreges |
With all four play-off
teams confirmed – Perpignan, Stade Toulousain, Clermont
Auvergne and Stade Francais – and the relegation issue full
resolved – Dax and Mont-de-Marsan are going down – the main
focus on the final weekend is on the three-way battle for
Heineken Cup qualification – between Biarritz, Brive and
Bayonne.
Like last week there
are innumerable permutations going into the weekend – and
beyond – but we’ll try and keep it as simple as we can here.
Top 14 Table
/ Top 14 Fixtures
/
Top 14 Transfers
The first thing to note
is that France will have one less team in the Heineken Cup
next season – down from seven to six – due its poor showing
in the competition this season.
That would ordinarily
mean the teams finishing in the top six positions come
Saturday evening would all be guaranteed Heineken Cup rugby
next season. However – and it’s a big however – that number
will be reduced down to five should lowly Bourgoin beat
Northampton Saints in next weekend’s European Challenge Cup
final.
A victory would
guarantee Bourgoin a previously unlikely entry into Europe’s
premier club competition, now that they have secured their
Top 14 status for next season. The only possible question
mark is the outcome of today’s (Friday) meeting between the
club and the DNACG – the league’s financial watchdog. It had
previously raised alarming fears of possible relegation when
it said Bourgoin needed to find €2m before the end of the
season to fulfil its budget. Failure to do so would be
treated very seriously, with SCA Albi’s relegation last
season (on financial not playing matters) still fresh in the
mind.
This week the Bourgoin
board was in confident mood ahead of the meeting, so for the
time being we shall assume matters will be resolved on
(rather than off) the pitch.
The net result of all
of that means only the team finishing in fifth place is
absolutely guaranteed Heineken Cup qualification, with the
sixth-placed team having to wait an extra week for the
outcome of the Bourgoin final.
Seventh would have been
good enough last season – it got Montauban into the Heineken
Cup – but it definitely won’t be this year. That means
heartbreak after a season’s toil for one of the three teams.
At present Biarritz are
in the box seat with 66 points, and they can’t be caught if
they win at home to Montauban. The Basques are one of the
form team’s in Top 14 and look odds on to claim the
automatic slot.
Behind them Brive (64
points) and Bayonne (62 points) are now set for a nervy
weekend. Like Biarritz, Brive cannot be caught by the team
below them (Bayonne) should they win, and intriguingly they
travel to Bourgoin – the team which could yet scupper their
hopes.
Bayonne, meanwhile,
entertain Stade Francais having lost four of their last five
games, including two at the previously impregnable Stade
Jean Dauger.
It all makes for a
fascinating set of fixtures, with Dax and Mont-de-Marsan
waving farewell to Top 14 as they take on Clermont Auvergne
and Stade Toulousain respectively. The other two games see
leaders Perpignan continue their play-off preparations with
a trip to Castres, while Toulon are set to celebrate their
survival with a home game against Montpellier at a sold out
Stade Felix Mayol.
Castres v Perpignan,
Stade Pierre Antoine, 16.05.09, 16.30
Leaders Perpignan
travel to Castres safe in the knowledge they have avoided a
play-off semi-final with defending champions Stade
Toulousain. However, there is still much to play for, with
top spot also likely to see them avoid free-scoring Clermont
Auvergne, the team which sent them packing 21-7 in last
year’s semi-final. Les Jaunards have been in fine form of
late and the Catalans would surely prefer to take on Ewen
McKenzie’s inconsistent Stade Francais. The ‘blood and
golds’ of Perpignan have, in sharp contrast to Stade
Francais, shown a remarkable consistency this season and go
into the final match on the back of seven wins in their last
eight games. Coach Jacques Brunel has noted the Catalans
have won a third of their games in the last quarter of an
hour – including their recent 20-16 home win against
Clermont - and is urging his players to keep up their
winning momentum. Castres enter the match safe, but having
lost their last three games. They will also be without
departing captain Lionel Nallet, who has been ruled out due
to a rib injury. If they lose on Saturday it will be there
eighth home defeat of a very poor season.
Verdict: Perpignan win
Bayonne v Stade
Francais, Stade Jean Dauger, 16/05/09, 16.30
Four defeats in their
last five games has seen Bayonne slip from favourites to
outsiders for the last guaranteed Heineken Cup slot. Away
defeats at Brive (6-13) and Montpellier (11-20) have cut
deep; as have their home losses to Biarritz (15-19) and
Stade Toulousain (9-12), leaving the Basques with a simple
task to perform on Saturday – they must win, preferably with
a bonus point, and then pray the rugby Gods do them a
favour. With that in mind they could probably have done
without meeting a faltering Stade Francais side that has its
own demons to deal with after four defeats in their last six
games. The capital club is having an especially poor time of
it against fellow top six sides, as proven by recent
reverses against Brive, Stade Toulousain, Clermont Auvergne
and (last week) Biarritz. Momentum is crucial going into the
play-offs and there are also individual starting spots up
for grabs, so this will be no gimme for Bayonne. Stade
Francais won the reverse fixture 35-8 back in December but
the Basques will be hoping future Italian international
Craig Gower can help overturn that with a final day flourish
that could yet bring rich reward.
Verdict: Bayonne win
Clermont Auvergne v
Dax, Stade Marcel Michelin, 16/05/09, 16.30
Doomed Dax look like
bidding their Top 14 farewells amid a flurry of tries if
Clermont’s recent form – especially at home – is anything to
go by. Les Jaunards – the division’s highest scorers – have
racked up an impressive 262 points in their last five home
games, averaging more than 50 points per match as they
dispatched Bayonne, Castres, Bourgoin, Brive and
Mont-de-Marsan. The try-frenzy reached a crescendo last week
as they ran in 10 against hapless Mont-de-Marsan, and Thomas
Lievremont’s men will surely be determined not to suffer a
similar fate. The key men, as ever, will be Australian
fly-half Brock James and Fijian winger Napolioni Nalaga, but
Clermont can score from anywhere and are currently riding
the crest of a confidence-building wave. It doesn’t look
good for Dax.
Verdict: Clermont Auvergne win
Toulon v
Montpellier, Stade Felix Mayol, 16/05/09, 16.30
The bunting’s out – and
so is Sonny Bill Williams – but nothing will stop the Toulon
party this weekend as they celebrate survival in their first
season back in Top 14. The promised land of further progress
now lies firmly in the hands of Philippe Saint-Andre – who
arrived to take up his director of rugby post on Thursday -
and a full house at the Stade Felix Mayol will ensure he is
welcomed with vociferous support. A number of players will
be making their farewell appearance – most notably former
All Black Jerry Collins – and the relief of finally avoiding
relegation could spark an almost exhibition feel.
Montpellier have little to play for except pride, and trying
to improve a recent record of four defeats from five.
Verdict: Toulon win
Mont-de-Marsan v
Stade Toulousain, Stade Guy Boniface, 16/05/09, 16.30
Fragile confidence is
the last thing you need when facing up to defending
champions Stade Toulousain, but Mont-de-Marsan marked their
relegation to ProD2 last week with a 66-3 thumping away to
Clermont Auvergne – the biggest defeat of a demoralizing
season. At least they are home this weekend, but Stade
Toulousain travel with a rare full compliment of players,
and competition at fever pitch for starting positions in the
play-offs. They could also with rediscovering their
try-scoring touch after managing just one in their last four
games. A bonus-point win could, in theory, see them overtake
Perpignan to finish at the top of the pile, but coach Guy
Noves knows that the most important thing is who wins the
play-offs, not which team finishes first in the league.
Verdict: Stade Toulousain win
Biarritz v
Montauban, Sports Aguilera, 16/05/09, 16.30
Biarritz just need to
win at home to Montauban to secure Heineken Cup
qualification next season, a task that seems well within
their capabilities are five successive league victories.
Perpignan, Stade Francais, Stade Toulousain and Clermont
have all been beaten since Les Biarrots turned around their
miserable mid-winter form, and Montauban should follow suit.
Departing coaching duo Laurent Labit and Laurent Travers may
be holding out for a last-day surprise, but Montauban
haven’t won away from home in the league since surprising
Clermont back in October – a full seven months ago.
Biarritz, by contrast, are unbeaten in Top 14 at the Sports
Aguilera since late November, and everything is now in place
for the Basques to crown a splendid second half to the
season with a final-day party.
Verdict: Biarritz win
Bourgoin v Brive,
Stade Pierre Rajon, 16/05/09, 16.30
What to make of
Bourgoin, or Brive for that matter? Both teams enter this
match on he back of crucial wins last week, with Bourgoin
buoyed by the knowledge they have finally avoided
relegation, while Brive turned around a four-match losing
streak just in time to stay in contention for a Heineken Cup
slot. They still need to win to ensure they have a chance,
but even that might not be enough given that Bourgoin –
their weekend opponents – could yet steal in if they win the
ECC. The outcome of this particular game could hinge on the
approach of the home side. Do they relax after securing
survival, and ensure fitness for next week’s final? Or do
they play for starting places in an effort to impress the
coaches? Certainly they should be able to play without
pressure – a welcome development after being sapped by weeks
of nervous energy – but Brive know there is absolutely no
room for slip-ups as they try to crown a season that offered
so much promise until their recent slump in form. All they
can is play the opposition in front of them and try to win
as handsomely as they can.
Verdict:
Brive win
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