Rugby Passion in Gay Paree
It's summer in Paris and the place to be this Saturday is at Stade de France in the northern suburb of St Denis. St Denis, the first Bishop of Paris, a martyr, is the patron saint of Paris.
In 250 AD he was taken by those who disapproved of his religious beliefs, and beheaded on a hill, now known as Montmatre. The Cathedral of St Denis was the burial place of French royalty for some 800 years.
This Saturday the rite in St Denis will be a rugby match, a wonderful to decide who wins this years Championnat, a rite performed, except for wars, since 1892.
For some it is a joyful day, for others a day of deep depression. Some will be held gleefully aloft as heroes, others, while not beheaded, will drop their heads in silent defeat. For some it will be the start of a long feast of celebration while others will stay quietly at home. One team's songs will be sung, their colours brandished on high and celebrated with many a libation, much hugging and kissing and a joyful wander through the City of Lights.
One of those two teams will be the sophisticated Parisian club Stade Français who have won the title 13 times before. The other will be Clermont Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand, the industrial town famous for Michelin tyres on the dry edge of the Massif Central with its cold winters and hot, hot summers. It is just over 400 km from Paris, an easy journey though going home after defeat does not make for a cheerful journey. Three years in a row Clermont suffered defeat in the final and then, in 2010, they won it.
At the end of the league section of the Top 14, Clermont were second to Toulon on the log, Stade Français fourth. They met twice during the league season and each had a massive win. In the first match in Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont won 51-9. In the second match in Paris, Stade Français won 40-26.
It's anybody's game.
Both clubs have lavish sponsorship and so have each their allowed quota of 16 players of other nationalities.
Teams
Clermont: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Marcellin Buttin, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Fritz Lee, 5 Sébastien Vaha'amahina, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 David Zirakashvili, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Raphaël Chaume, 18 Pierre,19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 21 Brock James, 22 Mike Delany, 23 Clément Ric.
Stade Français: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Nayacalevu Waisea, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Jérémy Sinzelle, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Raphale Lakafia, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Hugh Pyle, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Rémi Bonfils, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempéré, 17 Sakaria Taulafo, 18 Pascal Papé, 19 Jono Ross, 20 Jérôme Fillol, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 23 Davit Kubriashvili.
Date: Saturday, 13 June 2015
Kick-off: 21.00 (Paris time)
Venue: Stade de France
Expected weather conditions: Partly cloudy with a high of 27°C, dropping to 14°C.
Referee: Pascal Gauzère
Assistant referees: Jérôme Garcès, Salem Attalah
Television match official: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat
