Preview: Top 14, Round 11

Back from Heineken Cup, the French clubs again do battle in their competitive Top 14 where existence is so important and success so glorious.

The big matches are probably in Perpignan and Castres, though for Bayonne and Montpellier victory would be so important in a thus-far disappointing season.

Probably the most interest will be in the performance of Perpignan who have just fired their coach Jacques Delmas in the wake of several disappointing performances.

Delmas’s deputies, Bernard Goutta and Christophe Manas, have taken over and believe that the team has regained its determination to do well. They have a good opportunity to do so with a home match against the Pink Parisians who have not set the Top 14 alight this season..

Fixtures, Round 11:

Friday, 25 November 2011:
20.00: Bayonne vs Lyon at Stade Jean Dauger
20.30: Racing Métro vs Biarritz at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Colombes)
20.45: Perpignan vs Stade Français at Stade Aimé Giral

Saturday, 26 November 2011:
14.15: Brive vs Toulouse at Stade Amédée Domenech
14.15: Montpellier vs Clermont at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Montpellier)
16.15: Castres vs Toulon at Stade Pierre Antoine
20.45: Agen vs Bordeaux-Bègles at Stade Armandie 

Log after Round 10:

Lyon have two matches in hand; Toulon, Bayonne, Montpellier, Agen, Bordeaux-Bègles and Biarritz each one match in hand.

1 Toulouse 36
2 Clermont 35
3 Castres 31
4 Toulon 28
5 Racing-Métro 25
6 Agen 24
7 Stade Français 21
8 Perpignan 19
9 Brive 19
10 Bordeaux 17
11 Bayonne 15
12 Montpellier 14
13 Lyon 12
14 Biarritz 10

Predictions: Victories for Bayonne, Racing-Métro, Perpignan, Toulouse, Montpellier, Castres and Agen.

The teams:

For Bayonne Abdel Boutaty, who has injured a knee, is uncertain but hooker François Da Ros who also hurt his knee, is cleared to play. Two who have returned – Guillaume Bernad from a thigh injury and Yoann Huget from suspension – are not in the squad.

Wallaby Matt Giteau will be making his debut for Toulon, at centre outside Jonny Wilkinson.

Racing-Métro, who are without their captain Jacques Cronjé, have dropped Juan José Imhoff and Mathieu Lorée and have got back Julien Brugnaut, Sireli Bobo, Nicolas Durand, Gaëtan Germain and Josh Matavesi. Francois Steyn is still absent.

We shall add to the teams as they become available.

Bayonne: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Sam Gerber, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Marc Baget, 7 Julien Puricelli, 6 Dwayne Haare, 5 Troy Flavell, 4 Abdellatif Boutaty, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Pierre Lafond.
Replacements: 16 François Da Ros, 17 Aretz Iguiniz, 18 Robin Linde, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jean Joseph Marmouyet, 21 Cédric Garcia, 22 Marvin O’Connor, 23 Renaud Boyoud.

Lyon: 15 Eric Tomamichel, 14 Mosese Ratuvou, 13 Latu Fatafehi, 12 Waisale Sukanaveita, 11 Remy Grosso, 10 Xavier Sadourny, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Sisaro Koyamaibole, 7 Vincent Clement, 6 Juan Leguizamon, 5 Pierre Vigouroux, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Philemon Toleafoa, 2 Antonio Testa, 1 Xavier Fiard.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux, 17 Julien Facundo, 18 Arnaud Dorier, 19 Alexandru Manta, 20 Romain Veniat, 21 Regis Lespinas, 22 Romain Loursac, 23 Antoine Guillamon.

Biarritz: 15 Benoît Baby, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Ilikena Bolakoro, 12 Seremaia Burotu, 11 Charles Gimenez, 10 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 9 Yann Lesgougues, 8 Romain Faure, 7 Benoît Guyot, 6 Talalelei Gray, 5 Pelu Taele, 4 Erik Lund, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Arnaud Héguy (captain), 1 Yvan Watremez.
Replacements: 16 Romain Terrain, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Jérôme Thion, 19 Jean-Baptiste Roidot, 20 Tanguy Molcard, 21 Roussarie, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Campbell Johnstone.

Racing-Métro: 15 Jonathan Wisniewski, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Virimi Vakatawa, 11 Julien Saubade, 10 Juan Martin Hernández, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Bernard Le roux, 6 John Leo’o, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Karim Ghezal, 3 Johannes Coetzee, 2 Benjamin Noirot, 1 Mikaele Tu’ugahala.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Antoine Battut, 20 Sébastien Descons, 21 Joshua Matavesi, 22 Rémi Vaquin, 23 Juan Pablo Orlandi.

Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Farid Sid, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Gavin Hume, 11 Julien Candelon, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Jean Pierre Perez, 6 Gregory Le Corvec, 5 Robins Tchale Watchou, 4 Olivier Olibeau, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jerome Schuster.
Replacements: 16 Marius Tincu, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Romain Taofifenua, 19 Gerrie Britz, 20 Henri Tuilagi, 21 David Mélé, 22 Rudolf Coetzee, 23 Kisi Pulu.

Stade Français: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Paul Williams, 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 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Aled De Malmanche, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Antoine Burban, 20 Jerome Fillol, 21 Morgan Turinui, 22 Francis Fainifo, 23 Stanley Wright.

Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Nagusa, 13 Doumayrou, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Yoan Audrin, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Benoît Paillaugue,  8 Sakiusa Matadigo, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Mamuka Gorgodze, 5 Mickaël De Marco, 4 Thibaut Privat (captain), 3 George Jgenti, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Maximiliano Bustos, 17 Mikheil Nariashvili, 18 Drikus Hancke, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Paul Bosch, 22 Martín Bustos Moyano, 23 Rassie Jansen van Vuuren.

Toulon squad: Steffon Armitage, Sébastien Bruno, Kristian Chesney, Joe El Abd, Laurent Emmanuelli, Romain Frou, Jean-Philippe Genevois, Pierrick Gunther, Carl Hayman, Davit Kubriashvili, Eifion Lewis-Roberts, Christophe Samson, Dean Schofield, Leonardo Senatore, Jone Tawake, Mathieu Bastareaud, Fabien Cibray, Matt Giteau, Benjamin Lapeyre, Christian Loamanu, Gabriele Lovobalavu, Alexis Palisson, David Smith, Sébastien Tillous Borde, Jonny Wilkinson (captain).

Match officials:

Bayonne vs Lyon at Stade Jean Dauger
Referee: Sébastien Cloute
Assistant referees: Arnaud Blondel, Christophe Clavere
Television match official: Jean-Luc Pellaprat

Racing Métro vs Biarritz at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Colombes)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Jérôme Lamirand, René Bordeneuve
Television match official: Laurent Valin

Perpignan vs Stade Français at Stade Aimé Giral
Referee: Jean-Luc Rebollal
Assistant referees: Frank Maciello, Christophe Graviou
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier

Brive vs Toulouse at Stade Amédée Domenech
Referee: Patrick Pechambert
Assistant referees: David Rosich, Jean-Michel Schutz
Television match official: Hervé Dubes

Montpellier vs Clermont at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Montpellier)
Referee: Cédric Marchat
Assistant referees: Christophe Labaune, Jérôme Lamarque
Television match official: Daniel Gillet
 
Castres vs Toulon at Stade Pierre Antoine
Referee: Jérôme Garces
Assistant referees: Sébastien Minery, Patrick Beuriot
Television match official: Daniel Irazoqui
 
Agen vs Bordeaux Stade Armandie
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos, Thomas Dejean
Television match official: Gilles Cogne