Top 14 Preview: Round 13
France's top flight championship hits the half-way mark on Friday as Montpellier host a rematch of last year's final against Toulouse.
France's top flight championship hits the half-way mark on Friday as Perpignan battle against relegation and Montpellier host a rematch of last year's final against leaders Toulouse.
Three distinct groups have emerged in the standings as Toulouse and Clermont lead the race for play-offs qualification.
Eight clubs are tussling for six places in next season's Heineken Cup with Montpellier looking to keep up with Parisian heavweights Stade Français and Racing Metro.
The real intrigue at the moment however is at the other end of the table where six clubs are threatened with relegation.
Top of that list are Basque giants Biarritz, who face a massive task as they travel to the capital on Friday.
Clermont head to Brive for a derby while Toulon will want to keep in touch with the top two by beating struggling Lyon at home.
Fixtures:
Friday, December 23
Brive v Clermont
Bayonne v Castres
Stade Français v Biarritz
Perpignan v Bordeaux-Bègles
Toulon v Lyon
Racing Métro v Agen
Montpellier v Toulouse
Standings:
1 Toulouse 43
2 Clermont 40
3 Toulon 35
4 Castres 33
5 Agen 32
6 Stade Français 30
7 Racing Metro 30
8 Montpellier 27
9 Brive 22
10 Bordeaux-Begles 21*
11 Bayonne 20
12 Perpignan 20
13 Lyon 17*
14 Biarritz 15
* Played one game less
Previews:
CA Brive Corrèze v ASM Clermont Auvergne
Stade Amédée Domenech, Brive
High-flying Clermont will be looking to build on two strong performances in the Heineken Cup in a local derby that has not gone their way of late.
Brive were 29-22 winners back in January, continuing a string of home successes against their neighbours.
Clermont arrive with the most prolific attack in the championship but missing a number of injured players, inlcuding full-back Kini Murimurivalu, scrum-half Ludovic Radosavljevic, wing Sitiveni Sivivatu, lock Jason White, centre Gonzalo Canale, prop Thomas Domingo and wing Anthiny Floch.
Skipper Aurélien Rougerie returns while Morgan Parra is on the bench.
Win or lose, don't bet against Brive picking up a bonus point. CABCL have managed to get no less than eight this season thanks to a very solid defence that has conceded just eight tries in 12 games!
Clermont are however, scoring an average of two tries per game, so don't expect the host side to keep a clean sheet.
Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Jacques Boussuge, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Ronnie Cooke, 10 Riaan Swanepoel, 9 Mathieu Belie, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Alexandre Bias, 6 Petrus Hauman, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Thibault Dubarry, 3 Patrick Barnard, 2 Iuri Natriashvili, 1 Vasil Kakovin
Replacements:16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Davit Kinchagishvili, 18 Retief Uys, 19 Julien Ledevedec, 20 Simon Azoulai, 21 Jean Baptiste Pejoine, 22 Julien Caminati, 23 Pablo Cardinali
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Regan King, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Brock James, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Alexandre Audebert, 6 Alexandre Lapandry, 5 Loïc Jacquet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benoît Cabello, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements:16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Jamie Cudmore, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Williams, 22 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 23 Daniel Kotze.
Prediction: It'll be close. Clermont by less than seven points
Kick-off: 19:00 (18:00 GMT)
Referee: Romain Poite
Aviron Bayonnais v Castres Olympique
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
Just three points clear of the relegation zone, Bayonne are under huge pressure. The Basques will play their first home game under new boss Jean-Pierre Elissade but face a tough task against a Castres side lying third in the standings.
Usually a model of consistency, CO have blown hot and cold of late, but one should not read too much into their drubbing at the hands of Northampton in Europe last weekend as their below-strength side was an indication of where their priorities lie: The Top 14 play-offs.
Bayonne: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Marvin O'Connor, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Sam Gerber, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Julien Puricelli, 6 Jean Joseph Marmouyet, 5 Abdellatif Boutaty, 4 Rob Linde (captain), 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Aretz Iguiniz
Replacements:16 François Da Ros, 17 Vitolio Manukula, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Marc Baget, 20 Cédric Garcia, 21 Lionel Mazars, 22 Clément Otazo, 23 Renaud Boyoud
Castres: 15 Romain Teulet 14 Romain Martial, 13 Thomas Sanchou, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Maxwell Evans, 10 Seremaia Bai, 9 Rory Kockott , 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Yannick Caballero, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Karena Wihongi, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Anton Peikrishvili.
Replacements: 16 Marc Rallier, 17 Michael Coetzee, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Steve Malonga, 20 Thierry Lacrampe, 21 Pierre Bernard, 22 Paul Bonnefond, 23 Luc Ducalcon
Prediction: Bayonne's big guns have yet to fire. Castres by a whisker
Kick-off: 19:30 (18:30 GMT)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Stade Français Paris v Biarritz Olympique
Stade Charléty, Paris
Stade Français are bubbling with confidence at the moment thanks to a seven-match winning streak in all competitions including big wins over Clermont and Racing Metro in their last two home games.
Biarritz by contrast are in dire straits as they grapple to get off the foot of the table after 12 rounds. Never has the side last in the standings after 14 games avoided relegation and Paris is rarely the place to turn things around.
The Basque visitors should be boosted by the return of playmaker Dimitri Yachvili.
Stade Français hooker Dimitri Szarzewski will miss his team's next three matches due to an eye infection.
Stade Français: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Pierre Rabadan, 6 David Lyons, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Gerhard Mostert, 3 David Attoub, 2 Aled De Malmanche, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements:16 Laurent Sempéré, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Antoine Burban, 20 Jérôme Fillol, 21 Jules Plisson, 22 Francis Fainifo, 23 Stanley Wright
Biarritz: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty , 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Iain Balshaw, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Luix Roussarie, 8 Raphaël Lakafia, 7 Pelu Taele, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Jerome Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Benoît August, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements: 16 Arnaud Heguy, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Florian Faure, 19 Benoît Guyot, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Charles Gimenez, 23 Thomas Lebrequier
Prediction: Form points on one direction. Stade Français by at least ten