Preview: Top 14, Round 20

It’s a big weekend with France playing England in Paris on Sunday. Of the matches for Round 20, the most likely to be closest are desperate Biarritz against Brive and weakened Toulouse against Castres.

Several players, especially from Toulouse and Clermont, are in the French team to play Ireland but other teams also absorb French club players – mainly England, Wales, Italy, Georgia and Romania.

Apart from those with international call-ups, Clermont will be without injured Julien Bardy, Gerhard Vosloo, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Clément Ric – 14 players in all.

Fixtures, Round 20:

Friday, 9 March
20.45: Racing Métro vs Bordeaux-Bègles at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Colombes)

Saturday, 10 March
13.50: Toulouse vs Castres at Stade Ernest Wallon
14.15: Montpellier vs Bayonne at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Montpellier)
14.15: Stade Français vs Lyon at Stade Charlety (Paris)
14.15: Agen vs Clermont at Stade Armandie
14.15: Biarritz vs Brive at Parc Des Sports D’Aguilera
20.30: Perpignan vs Toulon at Stade Aimé Giral

Log after Round 19:

1 Toulouse 69
2 Clermont 65
3 Toulon 56
4 Castres 50
5 Montpellier 48
6 Racing Métro 45
7 Agen 44
8 Stade Français 42
9 Bordeaux-Bègles 37
10 Brive 37
11 Perpignan 32
12 Biarritz 30
13 Bayonne 30
14 Lyon 26

Predictions: Victories for Racing Métro, Castres, Montpellier, Stade Français, Agen and Toulon.

The teams:

Toulon are resting Jonny Wilkinson in their away match against Perpignan. Matt Giteau comes in to flyhalf with Gabriele Lovobalavu in at centre. Bakkies Botha is out with strained quadriceps and replaced by Dean Schofield and Luke Rooney replaces Benjamin Lapeyre at fullback.

Montpellier will be without Mamuka Gorgodze who is playing for Georgia in their big derby with Romania.

Racing-Métro: 15 Gaëtan Germain, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 François Steyn, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Mathieu Lorée, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 John Leo’o, 5 François van der Merwe, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Salemane Sa, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Karim Ghezal, 19 Jone Qovu, 20 Sébastien Descons, 21 Henry Chavancy, 22 Álvaro Galindo, 23 Juan Pablo Orlandi.

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 , 13 Félix Le Bourhis, 12 Andrew Mailei, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Justin Purll, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Wayne Avei, 1 Hikairo Forbes.
Replacements: 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 Laurent Delboulbes, 18 Cameron Treloar, 19 Louis Madaule, 20 Julien Seron, 21 Gerard Fraser, 22 Rafael Carballo, 23 Albert Toetu.

Toulouse: 15 Yannick Jauzion, 14 Timoci Matanavou, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yann David, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Shaun Sowerby, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Romain Millo Chlusky, 4 Patricio Albacete, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Daan Human.
Replacements: 16 Jérémy Falip, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Sylvain Nicolas, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 Maxime Payen, 22 Gillian Galan, 23 Johnson Falefa.

Castres: 15 Romain Teulet 14 Romain Martial, 13 James So’oialo, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Thierry Lacrampe, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Yannick Caballero, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Karena Wihongi, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Mathieu Bonello, 17 Anton Peikrishvili, 18 Benjamin Desroche, 19 Jannie Bornman, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Seremaia Bai, 22 Pierre Gilles Lakafia, 23 Michael Coetzee

Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Paul Bosch, .11 Martin Bustos Moyano, 10 Santiago Fernandez, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Rémy Martin, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Drikus Hancke, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Juan Figallo.
Replacements: 16 Erasmus Jansen van Vuuren, 17 Na’ama Leleimalefaga, 18 Alikisio Fakate, 19 Masini Matadigo, 20 Benoît Paillaugue, 21 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 22 Yoan Audrin, 23 Maximiliano Bustos.

Bayonne: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Marvin O’Connor, 13 Joe Rokocoko , 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Sam Gerber, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Cédric Garcia, 8 Marc Baget, 7 Dwayne Haare, 6 Guillaume Bernad, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Abdellatif Boutaty, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Aretz Iguiniz.
Replacements: 16 François Da Ros, 17 Nemiah Tialata, 18 Rob Linde, 19 Julien Puricelli, 20 Julien Audy, 21 Clément Otazo, 22 Thibault Lacroix, 23 Clément Baiocco.

Stade Français: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Paul Williams, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Jérôme Fillol, 8 David Lyons, 7 Pierre Rabadan, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Gerhard Mostert, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Francisco Tetaz, 2 Rémi Bonfils, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Aled De Malmanche, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Alexandre Flanquart, 19 Scott Lavalla, 20 Byron Kelleher, 21 Paul Warwick, 22 Morgan Turinui, 23 Stanley Wright. 

Lyon: 15 Romain Loursac, 14 Mosese Ratuvou, 13 Vinaya Wakanivuga, 12 Nicolas Raffault, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Laurent Tranier, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Nicolas Bontinck, 7 Juan Leguizamón, 6 Eugene N Zi, 5 Arnaud Dorier, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Antoine Guillamon, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Xavier Fiard.
Replacements: 16 Guram Kavtidze, 17 Anthony Roux, 18 Coenie Basson , 19 Gerald Gambetta, 20 Brice Salobert, 21 Luke Abraham, 22 Régis Lespinas, 23 Tariel Ratianidze.

Agen: 15 Silvère Tian, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Miguel Avramovic, 12 Junior Palesasa, 11 Romain Samuel, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Ueleni Fono, 6 Jean-Joseph Monribot, 5 Adri Badenhorst, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Jalil Narjissi, 1 Bernard N’Nomo.
Replacements: 16 Julien Janaudy, 17 Semisi Telefoni, 18 Lisiate Fa’aoso, 19 Marc Giraud, 20 Alexi Bales, 21 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 22 Belisario Agulla, 23 Beka Sheklashvili.

Clermont: 15 Anthony Floch, 14 Brent Russell, 13 Noa Nakaitaci, 12 Regan King, 11 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 10 Brock James, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Elvis Vermeulen (captain), 7 Alexandre Audebert, 6 Jason White, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Loïc Jacquet , 3 Benjamin Kayser, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Raphaël Chaume.
Replacements: 16 Benoît Cabello, 17 Lionel Faure, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Kevin Senio, 21 David Skrela, 22 Gavin Williams, 23 Adrien Oleon.

Biarritz: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Dane Haylett-Petty, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Talalelei Gray, 7 Benoît Guyot, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements: 16 Benoît August, 17Yvan Watremez, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Raphale Lakafia, 20 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Ilikena Bolakoro, 23 Eugene van Staden.

Brive: 15 Julien Caminati, 14 Jacques Boussuge, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Guillaume Namy, 10 Scott Spedding, 9 Agustin Figuerola, 8 Julien Ledevedec, 7 Vincent Forgues, 6 Poutasi Luafutu, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Retief Uys, 3 Alexandre Barozzi, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Davit Kinchagishvili.
Replacements: 16 Louis Acosta, 17 Mathieu Barres, 18 Olivier Caisso, 19 Simon Azoulai, 20 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 21 Mathieu Belie, 22 Sevanaia Galala, 23 Patrick Barnard.

Perpignan: 15 Jérôme Porical, 14 Farid Sid, 13 David Marty, 12 Rudi Coetzee, 11 Adrien Plante, 10 Gavin Hume, 9 Kevin Boulogne, 8 Henri Tuilagi, 7 Jean-Pierre Perez, 6 Gregoyr Le corvec, 5 Olivier Olibeau, 4 Romain Taofifenua, 3 Benoît Bourrust, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Gerrie Britz, 19 Ovidiu Tonita, 20 David Mélé, 21 Joffrey Michel, 22 Damien Chouly, 23 Danie Theart.

Toulon: 15 Luke Rooney, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Geoffroy Messina, 12 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Steffon Armitage, 7 Joe El Abd, 6 Olivier Missoup, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Pierrick Gunther, 20 Julien Dumora, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Fabien Cibray, 23 Levan Chilachava.

Match officials

Racing Métro vs Bordeaux at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Colombes)
Referee: Sébastien Cloute
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco, Christophe Clavere
Television match official: Bernard Dal Maso

Toulouse vs Castres at Stade Ernest Wallon
Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Alexandre Ruiz, Sébastien Hebert
Television match official: Bruno Bessot

Montpellier vs Bayonne at Stade Yves Du Manoir (Montpellier)
Referee: Salem Attalah
Assistant referees: Flavien Hourquet, Christophe Malterre
Television match official: Denis Gillet

Stade Français vs Lyon at Stade Charlety (Paris)
Referee: Christophe Berdos
Assistant referees: Akim Hadj Bachir, Dominique Parrini
Television match official: Eric Gonthier

Agen vs Clermont at Stade Armandie
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Nicolas Datas, Didier Dussaut
Television match official: Gérard Borreani

Biarritz vs Brive at Parc Des Sports D’Aguilera
Referee: Cédric Marchat
Assistant referees: Christophe Dutreuilh, Jean-Michel Schutz
Television match official: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat

Perpignan vs Toulon at Stade Aimé Giral
Referee: Patrick Pechambert
Assistant referees: Stéphane Boyer, Pierre Gorbenko
Television match official: Eric Gauzins