Antoine Dupont marks XV return as France stars to set crunch Top 14 clash alight
Toulouse scrum-half Antoine Dupont and Bordeaux stars Matthieu Jalibert and Damian Penaud.
Antoine Dupont has been named in Toulouse’s team for the Top 14 clash against Bordeaux on Sunday.
France’s superstar man returns to his club duties, having starred for the French SVNS team as they went on to claim the Los Angeles title.
It was a historic moment for France’s 7s team, as they clinched their first title in 19 years.
French internationals return for Toulouse v Bordeaux
Dupont has been named on the bench for Toulouse on his return to the XVs game as they clash with Bordeaux at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Ugo Mola’s charges head into the crunch clash against the eight-ranked side with the opportunity to go top of the table. They will, however, need a bonus point victory to replace Stade Francais at the summit.
While there was a small chance that Romain Ntamack could finally make his return from the injury that ruled him out of the Rugby World Cup in this fixture, his return has been put off for at least another week.
However, both sides has been boosted by the return of international stars following the Rugby World Cup.
For Toulouse, Juan Cruz Mallia starts at fullback with Arthur Retiere and Matthis Lebel on the wings. Pita Ahki and Paul Costes are the starting centres, with Thomas Ramos starting at fly-half after his heroics in Les Bleus’ Six Nations finale against England; he links up with Paul Graou in the halfbacks.
Alexandre Roumat packs down at number eight after earning his Test debut for France during the Six Nations and is joined in the back-row by Joshua Brennan and Jack Willis.
Thibaud Flament also returns after starring in the final two Six Nations matches for France and links up with Richie Arnold in the second row with fellow Les Bleus teammate Julien Marchand starting in the front row along with props Rodrigue Neti and Joel Merkler Perez.
Toulouse have a stacked bench as Dupont is joined by fellow France internationals Cyril Baille, Emmanuel Meafou, Francois Cros, Perrie-Louis Barassi and Dorian Aldegheri.
Bordeaux boosted
Hosts Bordeaux also welcome back many of their French internationals, notably fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, who comes straight back into the starting XV after his Six Nations was cut short by injury against Italy.
Fellow France international star Maxime Lucu joins him in the halfbacks. Bordeaux have a Les Bleus-ladened backline as centres Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortere combine in the midfield, having both featured for France during the Six Nations, as do wingers Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud. Fullback Romain Buros completes the threatening backline.
Tevita Tatafu, Mahamadou Diaby and Pierre Bochaton combine in the back-row with Cyril Cazeaux and Adam Coleman in the engine room. Big Ben Tameifuna starts at tighthead prop, with Maxime Lamothe at hooker and Ugo Boniface at loosehead.
Bordeaux v Toulouse teams
Bordeaux: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Tevita Tatafu, 7 Mahamadou Diaby, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Cyril Cazeaux, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Ugo Boniface
Replacements: 16 Romain Latterade, 17 Lekso Kaulashvili, 18 Guido Petti, 19 Marko Gazzotti, 20 Yann Lesgourgues, 21 Mateo Garcia, 22 Pablo Uberti, Tomaakino Taufa
Toulouse: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Arthur Retiere, 13 Paul Costes, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Paul Graou, 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Joshua Brennan, 6 Jack Willis, 5 Thibaud Flament, 4 Richie Arnold, 3 Joel Merkler Perez, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Rodrigue Neti
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Cramont, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Emmanuel Meafou, 19 Theo Ntamack, 20 Francois Cros, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Perrie-Louis Barassi, 23 Dorian Aldegheri
Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Kick-off: 20:05 GMT
