Preview: Top 14, Round 21
The Top 14 is now very much in the home straight and decisions about play-offs and relegations will be made. For those with a chance of making the play-offs and those in danger of relegation, these are desperate times.
The teams all benefit at the this time at having their full complement of uninjured players to choose from, as it is not an international weekend.
There are six for the play-offs which means that the top six now plus Stade Français are the likely candidates.
The bottom two go to Pro D2. The obvious candidates are Perpignan, Biarritz, Bayonne and Lyon. Lyon look set for the drop and Bayonne with internal squabbles could well join them.
Fixtures, Round 21
Friday, 23 March 2012
20.45: Bordeaux vs Toulouse at Stade Jacques Chaban-Delmas (Bordeaux)
Saturday, 24 Match 2012
14.15: Clermont vs Perpignan at Parc Des Sports Marcel Michelin
14.15: Lyon vs Biarritz at Matmut Stadium
14.15: Castres vs Montpellier at Stade Pierre Antoine
14.15: Stade Français vs Agen at Mmarena (Le Mans)
16.15: Toulon vs Racing Métro at Stade Mayol
20.45: Bayonne vs Brive at Stade Jean Dauger
Log after Round 20
1 Toulouse 73
2 Clermont 69
3 Toulon 58
4 Montpellier 52
5 Castres 51
6 Racing Métro 49
7 Paris 47
8 Agen 44
9 Bordeaux 37
10 Brive 37
11 Perpignan 34
12 Biarritz 34
13 Bayonne 30
14 Lyon 26
Predictions: Victories for Toulouse, Clermont, Biarritz , Montpellier, Stade Français, Toulon, Bayonne.
Teams
Absentees now are injuries, not national call-ups.
One injured and out for the rest of the season if lock Gerhard Mostert of Stade Français.
Montpellier are without Sakiusa Matadigo, who has an ankle injury, but they have Mamuka Gorgodze back.
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Vungakoto Lilo, 13 Julien Rey, 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 Laurent Delboulbes
Replacements: 16 Boris Bethery, 17 Hikairo Forbes, 18 François Tisseau, 19 Charlie Ternisien, 20 Julien Seron, 21 Gerard Fraser, 22 Félix Le Bourhis, 23 Albert Toetu
Toulouse: 15 Yannick Jauzion, 14 Timoci Matanavou, 13 Yann David, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Grégory Lamboley, 4 Patricio Albacete, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Daan Human, 18 Romain Millo Chlusky, 19 Gillian Galan, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Clement Poitrenaud, 22 Florian Fritz, 23 Yohan Montes
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Noa Nakaitaci, 12 Regan King, 11 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Elvis Vermeulen (captain), 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Julien Bardy, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Danie Kotze, 2 Tii Paulo, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Benoît Cabello, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Loic Jacquet, 19 Jason White, 20 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 21 Brock James, 22 Brent Russell, 23 Davit Zirakashvili.
Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Adrien Planté, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Julien Candelon, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Jean-Pierre Perez, 6 Bertrand Guiry, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Benoît Bourrust, 2 Charles Geli, 1 Kisi Pulu
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Gerrie Britz, 19 Grégory Le Corvec, 20 David Mélé, 21 Nicolas Laharrague, 22 Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 23 Romain Brison.
Lyon: 15 Romain Loursac, 14 Franck Romanet, 13 Vinaya Wakanivuga, 12 Nicolas Raffault, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Laurent Tranier, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8Sisaro Koyamaibole , 7 Juan Leguizamón, 6 Eugene N Zi, 5 Coenie Basson, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Antoine Guillamon, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Xavier Fiard
Replacements: 16Antonio Testa, 17 Guram Kavtidze, 18 Arnaud Dorier, 19 Luke Abraham, 20 Brice Salobert, 21 Lee Thomas, 22 Régis Lespinas, 23 Anthony Roux
Biarritz: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Charles Gimenez, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Dane Haylett-Petty, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Benoît Guyot, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Pelu Taele, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Romain Terrain, 1 Yvan Watremez.
Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 Sylvain Marconnet , 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Raphaël Lakafia, 20 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Ilikena Bolakoro, 23 Eugene van Staden
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 Joe Tekori, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Michael Coetzee, 18 Jannie Bornman, 19 Steeve Malonga, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Seremaia Bai, 22 Max Evans, 23 Karena Wihongi
Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Yoan Audrin, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Martin Bustos Moyano, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Mamuke Gorgodze, 7 Alex Tulou, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo (captain), 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Drikus Hancke, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga
Replacements: 16 Erasmus Jansen van Vuuren, 17 Juan Figallo, 18 Alikisio Fakate, 19 Vassili Bost, 20 Benoît Paillaugue, 21 Paul Bosch , 22 Timoci Nagusa, 23 Maximiliano Bustos
Stade Français: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Jérôme Fillol, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 David Lyons, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements: 16 Aled De Malmanche, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Scott Lavalla, 19 Pierre Rabadan, 20 Byron Kelleher, 21 Paul Warwick, 22 Hugo Bonneval, 23 Stanley Wright.
Agen: 15 Silvère Tian, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 12 Jamie Robinson, 11 Belisario Agulla, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Adri Badenhorst, 6 Ueleni Fono, 5 Lisiate Fa’aoso, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Beka Sheklashvili, 2 Semisi Telefoni, 1 Bernard N’Nomo.
Replacements: 16 Jalil Narjissi, 17 Laurent Cabarry, 18 Patrick O’Connor, 19 Jean Monribot, 20 Sylvain Dupuy, 21 Junior Pelesasa, 22 Romain Samuel, 23 Jonathan Garcia
Toulon: 15 Luke Rooney, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6Pierrick Gunther , 5 Bakkies Botha, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Laurent Emmanuelli, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Olivier Missoup, 20 Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 21 Christian Loamanu, 22 Fabien Cibray, 23 Davit Kubriashvili
Racing-Métro: 15 Gaëtan Germain, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 François Steyn, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Sébastien Descons, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 John Leo’o, 5 François van der Merwe, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Salemane Sa, 2 Benjamin Noirot, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Jone Qovu, 20 Mathieu Lorée, 21 Fabrice Estebanez, 22 Álvaro Galindo, 23 Juan Pablo Orlandi
Bayonne: 15 Cedric Heyman, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Marvin O’Connor, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Mark Phillips, 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 Jean-Joseph Marmouyet, 20 Cédric Garcia, 21 Jacques Louis Potgeiter, 22 Joe Rokocoko, 23 Vitolio Manukula
Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Julien Caminati, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Ronnie Cooke, 10 Mathieu Belie, 9 Agustin Figuerola, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Poutasi Luafutu, 6 Thibault Dubarry, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Retief Uys, 3 Vasil Kakovin, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Pablo Henn.
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Davit Khinchagishvili 18 Olivier Caisso, 19 Alexandre Bias, 20 Simon Azoulai, 21 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 22 Riaan Swanepoel, 23 Patrick Barnard
Match Officials
Bordeaux vs Toulouse at Stade Jacques Chaban-Delmas (Bordeaux)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Assistant referees: Jérôme Lamirand, Didier Dussaut
Television match official: Daniel Irazoqui
Clermont vs Perpignan at Parc Des Sports Marcel Michelin
Referee: Cédric Marchat
Assistant referees: Flavien Hourquet, Bruno Fiche
Television match official: Jean-Marie Piraveau
Lyon vs Biarritz at Matmut Stadium
Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: Akim Hadj Bachir, Pascal Ubeda
Television match official: Bruno Bessot
Castres vs Montpellier at Stade Pierre Antoine
Referee: Christophe Berdos
Assistant referees: Sébastien Cloute, René Bordeneuve
Television match official: Hervé Dubes
Stade Français vs Agen at Mmarena (Le Mans)
Referee: Jérôme Garces
Assistant referees: Stéphane Pomarède, Patrick Beuriot
Television match official: Gilles Cogne
Toulon vs Racing Métro at Stade Mayol
Referee: Jean- Luc Rebollal
Assistant referees: Salem Attalah, Christophe Graviou
Television match official: Philippe Bonhoure
Bayonne vs Brive at Stade Jean Dauger
Referee: Patrick Pechambert
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco, Philippe Gorbenko
Television match official: Laurent Valin
