PREVIEW: Toulon face almighty challenge in Auvergne
TOP 14, WEEK SIX: Toulon head to Top 14 leaders Clermont on Saturday seeking just a second victory in Auvergne in more than 80 years of rivalry in a crunch match that could well set the tone for the season.
Clermont flopped badly last season, finishing a lowly ninth, while three-time European champions Toulon were fourth and knocked out of the play-offs in the quarterfinals.
But Clermont, with Scotland scrumhlaf Greg Laidlaw to the fore, have racked up four wins from their opening five games, while fellow big spenders Toulon have managed just two victories.
History certainly counts against Toulon for the away fixture. In 30 meetings dating back to 1936, Toulon have only won once on Clermont soil, emerging 35-9 winners in 2015.
Toulon have gone through four head coaches since September 2016: Diego Dominguez, Mike Ford, Richard Cockerill and Fabien Galthie all having failed to fill the boots of now-French federation chief Bernard Laporte, who masterminded three European Cups and a league title during his tenure at the Mourad Boudjellal-funded club.
Now with Patrice Collazo at the coaching helm, Toulon rebounded from a comprehensive 10-37 defeat by Stade Francais with a 33-3 win over Agen last weekend.
“We’re coming back from far,” said Collazo, adding that his pack needed to step up to allow the sparkling backline to shine.
“We’ve put the emphasis on the basics, including physical engagement to put things back in order.
“Before seeing [Julian] Savea, [Malakai] Fekitoa and [Josua] Tuisova, we need the forwards pack to pick up the pace.”
Toulon have brought in six stars boasting 163 caps between them pre-season: All Blacks Savea and Liam Messam, Wales scrumhalf Rhys Webb, France lock Sebastien Taofifenua, Springbok forward Jacques Potgiter and uncapped French wing Daniel Ikpefan.
That said, in their victory over Agen, Toulon boasted 12 players eligible for France and 13 who were qualified in the JIFF category of French-reared players, who must have been registered with the French Rugby Federation for at least five years or have spent three seasons in a federation-approved academy if they are under 21.
But for this weekend Toulon will be missing barn-storming centre, and latterly club and France captain, Mathieu Bastareaud, still suspended for his strike on a prone, defenceless Christophe Samson of Castres.
Clermont coach Franck Azema said his team’s 19-23 defeat by Bordeaux-Begles last weekend “wasn’t a good performance”, stressing however that things were falling in place.
“We won’t go much further with the analysis of that game because the important thing is what’s coming. We must now concentrate on hosting Toulon.”
But Azema was confident his team were starting to hit it off.
“After all the changes in personnel, it’s normal to have a certain delay between what you want to play and actually putting the gameplan in place.
“They’re now increasing in power and are capitalising on their confidence.”
Scrumhalf Morgan Parra added: “Toulon are seeking to lay down a marker, also away from home.
“They’ve got nothing to lose. We’ve been warned, it’s going to be tough!”
Sunday sees Stade Francais take on cross-city rivals Racing 92 in the mouth-watering clash of the league’s two Parisian sides, who go into the weekend in second and third places.
The match will see in-form centres and international teammates Gael Fickou and Virimi Vakatawa face off.
Fickou joined Stade from Toulouse and he has thrived under Heyneke Meyer, the former Springbok head coach having ensured he was quickly knocked into better physical shape.
“I saw videos of him when he was young. He was quick, he could get past opponents. I said to him ‘you’re too big and you’ve lost your pace’,” said Meyer.
Into the gym Fickou went, reappearing six kilos lighter at 95kg and showing an explosive ingredient to his game severely missing last season.
Vakatawa is back from two extra weeks holiday in his native Fiji, coach Laurent Labit saying that decision was taken so the one-time winger and sevens specialist could rest up fully before being “shifted definitively into the centre”.
Fixtures:
Saturday:
Toulouse v Castres
Agen v Pau
Bordeaux-Begles v La Rochelle
Lyon v Grenoble
Perpignan v Montpellier
Clermont v Toulon
Sunday:
Stade Francais v Racing 92
