Preview: Top 14, Round 26
This is it – the last round of the league matches before the play-offs. Some major decisions have been made – semifinalists and relegatees. Who plays whom in the semis and who will get to the Heineken Cup still need to be decided.
The top four are semifinalists. All that needs to be decided is who plays whom. The possibilities are that Toulouse will play either Stade Français or Clermont Auvergne in Bordeaux and Perpignan will play the other one in Lyon.
Sixth place means a spot in the Heineken Cup and Bayonne and Brive are the contenders.
Log going into Round 26
1. Perpignan 88
2. Toulouse 87
3. Clermont 78
4. Stade Français 77
5. Biarritz 66
6. Brive 64
7. Bayonne 62
8. Montauban 53
9. Montpellier 50
10. Toulon 46
11. Bourgoin 44
12. Castres 43
13. Dax 37
14. Mont-de-Marsan 29
Fixtures for Round 26
All matches kick off at 16.00.
Castres vs Perpignan
Bayonne vs Stade Français
Clermont vs Dax
Toulon vs Montpellier
Mont-de-Marsan vs Toulouse
Biarritz vs Montauban
Bourgoin vs Brive
Bayonne have a great deal to play for and so do Brive. Those are the two matches evoking moist interest. The Dax and Mont-de-Marsan cannot save them from their plight but one presumes that they would like to bow out with honour.
For Castres, Toulon, Montpellier, Montauban and Bourgoin there is nothing to play for in terms of the future but there is always the contest of the present.
Predictions: Victories for Perpignan, Bayonne, Clermont, Toulon, Toulouse, Biarritz and Brive.
Teams
We shall publish whatever teams we can get.
Bayonne squad: Iguiniz, Lafond, Cortese, Roumieu, Blake, Avril, Linde, Springgay, Tewhata, Bernad, Puricelli, Haare, Baget, Martin, Garcia, Lopez, Edmonds, Gower, Gerber, Inigo, Bolavucu, Peyras, Elhorga, Fall, Laguin
Biarritz: 15 Nicolas Brusque, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Laurent Trainer, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Ilikena Bolakoro, 10 Damien Traille, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Samui Vahafolau, 5 Trevor Hall, 4 Jérôme Thion (captain), 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Benoît August, 1 Fabien Barcella
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Eduard Coetzee, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Fabien Cibray, 21 Philippe Bidabé, 22 Jean-Baptiste Gobelet, 23 Rémy Hugues
Bourgoin squad: Roux, Peyron, Wihongi, Cardinali, Tchougong, Merle, Vigneaux, Fevre, Levast, Louchard, Jooste, Sylvain Nicolas, Frier, Guillot, Thomas Genevois, Parra, M Forest, Boyet, Laloo, David, Viazzo, Romanet, M Nicolas, Coux, Anthony Forest
Brive squad: Capdevielle, Idieder, Khinchagishvili, P Balan, Thompson, Bonrepaux, Browne, Van Zyl, Short, Forgues, Popham, Azoulai, Claassen, Vosloo, Pic, Péjoine, Goode, Orquera, Mackay, Cooke, Estebanez, Palisson, Ligairi, Agulla, Bianco
Clermont Auvergne: Emmanuelli, Domingo, Zirakashvili, Scelzo, Cabello, Ledesma, Jacquet, Privat, Pierre, Etien, Audebert, Cudmore, Vermeulen, Mignoni, Senio, James, Baï, Canale, Garcia, Baby, Rougerie, Nalaga, Floch.
Dax squad: Lealamanua, Boyoud, Poulain, Castex, Pedrosa, Legoc, Bert, Mazel, Guironnet, O August, Mathieu Lièvremont, Deniau, Bornman, Morlaes, Bortolussi, Ospital, Petitjean, Albaladejo, Courtade, Bell, Gavin Williams, Diaz
Montauban squad: Delboulbès, Shvelidze, Balan, Sa, Florea, Mach, Arganese, Parriel, Sazy, Frost, Ghezal, Battut, Boutaty, Diarra, Clarkin, Culinat, Audy, Lespinas, Fortassin, Jahouer, Cassin, Audrin, Figueiredo, Le Bourhis, Delasau, Dalla Riva
Montpellier: 15 Jacques Schutte, 14 Jacques Boussuge, 13 Sylvain Mirande, 12 Grant Rees, 11 Manoël Dall’igna, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Vasili Bost, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo (captain), 5 Drickus Hancke, 4 Alistair Campbell, 3 Danie Thiart, 2 Fabien Rofes, 1 Philemon Toleafoa
Replacements: 16 Joan Caudullo, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Michel Macurdy, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Adrien Thomas, 21 Santiago Bottini, 22 Olivier Sarramea, 23 Bruce Douglas
Perpignan squad: Mas, Bozzi, Pulu, Freshwater, Tincu, Guirado, Olibeau, Vilaceca, Britz, Alvarez-Kairélis, Perez, Le Corvec, Chouly, Tuilagi, Cusiter, Durand, Mélé, Laharrague, Marty, Mermoz, Grandclaude, Candelon, Sid Burger, Porical
Stade Français squad: Blin, Szarzewski, Roncero, Attoub, Marconnet, Ledesma, Vigouroux, Marchois, Papé, Mauro Bergamasco, Parisse, Leguizamon, Rabadan, Albouy, Oelschig, Liebenberg, Hernández, Gasnier, Messina, Glas, Saubade, Arias, Mirco Bergamasco
Toulon squad: Bastères, Collins, Fitzgerald, Galasso, Kubriashvili, Labadze, Maestri, Missoup, Ribes, Skeate, Sourice, Suta, Taumoepeau, Van Niekerk (captain), Andreu, Barnard, Fauqué, Henjak, Jagr, Jordaan, Kefu, Lovobalavu, Pisi, Sinoti, Umaga.
Match Officials
Clermont Auvergne vs Dax
Referee: Cédric Marchat
Touch judges: Denis Grenouillet, Alain Rongier
Assessor: Pierre Beneuf, Joël Dumé
Television match official: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat
Bayonne vs Stade Français
Referee: Jean-Luc Rebollal
Touch judges: Dominique Parrini, Régis Gabard
Assessor: Daniel Pascal, Marc Desclaux
Television match official: Daniel Gillet
Biarritz vs Montauban
Referee: Bruno Bessot
Touch judges: Jean-Claude Bes, Thierry Laur
Assessor: Francis Coup, Alain Fernandez
Television match official: Serge Marzullo
Bourgoin vs Brive
Referee: Bernard Dal Maso
Touch judges: Patrick Dellac, Gines Cerezuela
Assessor: Michel Sicard, Michel Debet
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier
Castres vs Perpignan
Referee: David Rosich
Touch judges: René Bordeneuve, Eric Briquet Campin
Assessor: Jean Izquierdo, Francis Palmade
Television match official: Daniel Irazoqui
Toulon vs Montpellier
Referee: Akim Hadj Bachir
Touch judges: Gérard Gacon, Gilbert Darrieutort
Assessor: Patrick Costa, Michel Messan
Television match official: Daniel Dartigeas
Mont-de-Marsan – Toulouse
Referee: Romain Poite
Touch judges: Jacques Laplace, Didier Morin
Assessor: Jean-Paul Soules, Marc Daroque
Television match official: Gérard Borreani
