Preview: Top 14 Round 11

With only four points separating seven clubs in the middle of the log, it looks to be another intriguing weekend. Sunday's Bourgoin РBiarritz game should be a cracker. Toulouse seem unstoppable and Stade Fran̤ais are looking to set the record straight.

With only four points separating seven clubs in the middle of the log, it looks to be another intriguing weekend. Sunday's Bourgoin РBiarritz game should be a cracker. Toulouse seem unstoppable and Stade Fran̤ais are looking to set the record straight.

Fixtures

Friday 22 February
Castres РStade Fran̤ais

Saturday 23 February
Bayonne – Albi
Clermont – Montauban
Montpellier – Dax
Perpignan – Auch
Toulouse – Brive

Sunday 24 February
Bourgoin – Biarritz

Standings after Round 10 with points and points' difference

1. Toulouse 43; +157
2. Stade Français 33; +101
3. Clermont 32; +46
4. Biarritz 31; +25
5. Bayonne 24; -16
6. Montauban 22; +1
7. Castres 22; -11
8. Montpellier 22; -17
9. Albi 21; -14
10. Perpignan 20; -37
11. Bourgoin 20; -47
12. Brive 18; -34
13. Dax 13; -55
14. Auch 8; -99

Previews:

Castres v Stade Français
Stade will want to steady their ship. Although unbeaten in 2008, second on the log and victorious in their last two fixtures, the Parisians have been far from convincing in their recent appearances.

At home against Brive and Auch they had terrible first halves in both games and only managed to scrap a tryless 15-12 win over the basement dwellers Auch thanks to David Skrela's boot.

Now they have to hit the road without their French international stars. Their next five games are all against top clubs, the least of which is Castres. If there was ever an opportunity to re-launch their campaign and regain some form and confidence, this is it.

Castres have also won their last two games and will be keen to continue their march up the table, but it's doubtful that they will be able to match Stade's firepower.

Kick-off: 20:00 (19:00 GMT)
Referee: Franck Maciello
Touch judges: Hubert Dubes, Marc Daroque
Television match official: Daniel Gilet

Saturday 23 February

Bayonne vs Albi
Both Bayonne and Albi recorded excellent wins last week. Albi thumped Bourgoin in their best performance of the season and their players will be on a high.

Home side Bayonne however, are leading the 'best of the rest' chase in fifth place on the log, and will expect to win.

Kick-Off: 17:30 (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Eric Gauzins
Touch judges: Michel Forget, Alain Fernandez
Television match official: Jérôme Garces

Clermont Auvergne vs Montauban
Although separated by only 3 places on the log (Clermont are third and Montauban sixth), Clermont have a ten-point lead over the team from the south-west.

Clermont will sorely miss their captain Aurelien Rougerie, but Julien Malzieu is back from international duty and injury.

Speculation over the future at the club of injured hooker John Smit would not have done much for the atmosphere in the squad.

Expect a win nonetheless from Clermont who are looking to leapfrog Stade Français into second place.

Kick-Off: 17:30 (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Jean-Christophe Gastou
Touch judges: Patrick Ducouret, Marc Desclaux
Television match official: Bruno Bessot

Montpellier vs Dax
Montpellier will be without internationals Picamoles, Trinh-Duc and Ouedraogo.

Undefeated at home until last week's lost to Biarritz, Montpellier must bounce back if their European dreams are to stay alive. The visit by lowly Dax will be a test of their strength in depth.

Kick-Off: 17:30 (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Bernard Dal Maso
Touch judges: Francis Bourgade, Michel Messan
Television match official: Daniel Dartigeas

Perpignan vs Auch
Perpignan will be without Adrien Planté, Rimas Alvarez-Kairélis and Perry Freshwater, all injured in the Catalans' defeat in Toulouse last weekend. They were hammered by Toulouse and looked below par.

Their next two matches are against last and second last Auch and Dax, and they'll be hoping to find their rhythm again.

Bottom of the log Auch will take heart from their performance in Paris last Saturday. They sent a team full of youngsters and had Stade up against the ropes for most of the game.

Already written off by most as relegation sure-things, if Auch can reproduce last week's form, they may be in with a sniff.

Kick-Off: 17:30 (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Philippe Bonhoure
Touch judges: Jean-Marie Combe, Serge Marzullo
Television match official: Gérard Borreani

Toulouse vs Brive
Can anyone stop runaway leaders Toulouse? Unbeaten this season, they thrashed Perpignan last week. More of the same seems to be on the cards when they host 12th placed Brive.

Even without their armada of French internationals, and an injury list that gets ever longer (Fritz, Poitrenaud, Elissalde, Millo-Chluski ….) Guy Noves' charges seem to be on a different rugby plant.

South African fly-half Gaffie du Toit was voted man of the match by the Toulouse fans after the Perpignan match. His partnership with Byron Kelleher will be vital and could be lethal.

All that said, who were the last French side to win in Toulouse? Brive, of course. It was 18 November 2006 and Brive won 29-26 !

Despite playing reasonably good rugby over the last few weeks, Brive are coming off the back of two defeats. They put in an excellent first half performance against Stade Français and narrowly lost to Clermont in their local derby last week.

Kick-Off: 17:30 (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Akim Hadj Bachir
Touch judges: Jean-Louis Lamy, Bernard Perez
Television match official: David Rosich

Sunday 24 February

Bourgoin v Biarritz
Fourth-placed Biarritz have been in great form when on the road. They've already won four games (out of five) away from home this season. Against a struggling Bourgoin side, they might just make it five.

Biarritz beat Montpellier last week (Montpellier's first home loss) but this week they will be without Traille, Yachvili, Thion and Masi, who are in Paris on Six Nations duty.

Bourgoin should be in the top half of the table. They're eleventh. Their president isn't happy. He has demanded results and has made an ominous promise to be “vigilant'.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, he's denied that the club is in a crisis. Their coach admits however that seeds of doubt have been sown in his young players' minds. They need to turn the trend, now.

Kick-Off: 15:00 (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Didier Mene
Touch judges: Philippe De Miranda, Michel Debet
Television match official: Eric Briquet Campin