Top 14 Preview: Round 24

The race for the play-offs is in full swing as defending champions Stade Fran̤ais host this season's surprise package РCastres Olympique Рin Paris in the highlight of the weekend.

The race for the play-offs is in full swing as defending champions Stade Fran̤ais host this season's surprise package РCastres Olympique Рin Paris in the highlight of the weekend.

Clermont face the perilous journey to Montauban where the home club await the championship leaders in their intimidating fortress, Sapiac.

While Dax and Albi anxiously await a decision concerning Albi's appeal against their demotion on account of their irregular accountancy, Biarritz are clutching at straws in the hope of making the semi-finals.

Toulouse and Perpignan have a busy period ahead of them as they each have to play three matches in nine days.

Fixtures:

Friday May 30

Auch v Perpignan
Brive v Stade Toulousain

Saturday, May 31

Stade Français v Castres Olympique
Biarritz Olympique v Bourgoin
Dax v Montpellier
Montauban v Clermont
Albi v Bayonne

Tuesday June 3 (From Round 23)

Perpignan v Stade Toulousain

Table after Round 23 (Toulouse and Perpignan have a game in hand)

1 Clermont Auvergne 90
2 Stade Toulousain 81
3 Stade Français 70
4 Perpignan 62
5 Castres Olympique 61
6 Biarritz Olympique 59
7 Montauban 54
8 Bourgoin 48
9 Bayonne 48
10 Montpellier 48
11 Albi 42
12 Brive 41
13 Dax 34
14 Auch 19

Previews:

Brive v Toulouse
Stade Amedée-Domenech, Brive, 21:00 (19:00 GMT)

A week after their heart-breaking narrow defeat in the Heineken Cup Final, Toulouse will attempt to get their Top 14 campaign back to top speed when they travel to Brive. Coach Guy Novès has altered his team somewhat but it remains very strong as all Toulouse's eggs are now in the Top 14 basket.

Although already qualified for the semi-finals, the former champions have spoken of a need to regain their confidence before the play-offs.

Loose forward Thierry Dusautoir has sprained his knee and will not make the journey while young wing Yves Donguy will start on the bench with Cédric Heymans playing at full-back.

Florian Fritz and Alberto Vernet-Basualdo, who were on the bench in Cardiff but were not used, have made the starting XV as has Omar Hasan. Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde will continue in his role as fly-half outside Bryon Kelleher.

“We've got another marathon ahead of us with midweek matches. We're going to be cooked by the time we get to the semi-finals. I'm not being a cry baby, I'm simply stating the facts. Once again we're going to be victims of our success,” said Cédric Heymans after their loss in Cardiff last Saturday.

Brive are twelfth and have a seven-point cushion between them and Dax. Having won only two of their last ten matches the Corréziens need to pick up a few points over the next few weeks to cement their place amongst France's elite.

Despite being away from home, it's very hard to imagine any other result than a comprehensive win for Toulouse.

Referee: David Rosich
Touch judges: Claude Tajan, Daniel Jeanguiot
Assessor: Daniel Irazoqui
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier

Auch v Perpignan
Stade du Moulias – Patrice Brocas, Auch, 19:00 (17:00 GMT)

Perpignan should be feeling fresh after 15 days off thanks to their match against Toulouse being delayed due to European commitments.

They'll need to be fresh because four days after travelling to Auch they will host the losing Heineken Cup finalists in the second of their three matches in nine days.

Auch will be hoping the Catalans will be a bit rusty and will be looking to repeat their upset of Stade Français last week against another of the 'big boys'.

Perpignan are sitting in the fourth place on the table but are only one point clear of Castres and just three ahead of Biarritz, so a spot in the semi-finals is still far from guaranteed.

They are thus almost obliged to bring a bonus point victory back from their visit to the Gers region. That seems a tough ask given Auch's performance last week and the fact that the Catalans only managed a 28-23 win at home the last time the teams met.

The visitors will be without Springbok Percy Montgomery who is in South Africa preparing for the Tests against Wales. If Perpignan don't make the semi-finals the bleach-blond full-back won't pull a Perpignan jersey on again as he has signed a one-year contract with Western Province.

Referee: Romain Poite
Touch judges: Patrick Dellac, Jacques Laplace
Assessor: Richard Senssac
Television match official: Daniel Gillet

Biarritz v Bourgoin
Parc des Sports d'Aguilera, Biarritz, 17:30 (15:30 GMT)

Biarritz still believe they can make the semi-finals, and it's not outside of the realms of possibility. But they'll have to produce a very special final three weeks of rugby against Bourgoin, Stade Français and Castres.

Considering Stade's hopeless form at the moment and the facts that Castres- their direct rivals – must travel to Biarritz in the last round and Perpignan have a fairly tough run-in, the Basques might not be completely out of the running. But they certainly need a lot of “ifs” to work out for them.

Centre Damian Traille has assured Biarritz fans that the squad are as concentrated as ever after their first win in five games. Their is no doubt the former champions have players to be worth a semi-final spot, they just need to combine their efforts into a coherent attack – something they have struggled to do on many an occasion this season.

Traille is injured and won't play, and French international scrum-half Dimitri Yachvilli has been demoted to the bench.

Before they can even think of all the loose ends of their semi-final possibilities, Biarritz must turn the tables on a Bourgoin side that beat them 35-15 three months ago.

At first glance that seems a tough task until you consider that the Basques will be at home at Aguilera where they thumped Montpellier 20-0 last week and that Bourgoin's season has been less than spectacular.

Les Berjellians have won just three times in their last eleven outings, with all three successes coming against clubs in the bottom three on the table at the time.

Bourgoin suffered a severe blow on Wednesday when French international prop France Olivier Milloud snapped his Achilles tendon, sidelining him for six months. Wing Anthony Forest's season is also over after tearing knee ligaments against Albi last week.

Referee: Cédric Marchat
Touch judges: Jean-Paul Vermande, Denis Grenouillet
Assessor: Michel Roger
Television match official: Daniel Dartigeas

Dax v Montpellier
Maurice Boyau, Dax, 17:30 (15:30 GMT)

Dax have confirmed that they have recruited Italy full-back David Bortolussi as well as his Montpellier team-mate, lock Michaël Bert. Both have signed for two years. They will still be wearing blue jumpers when they visit