Top 14 hots up
France are playing this weekend and so are the Top 14 clubs, much to their chagrin. They missed out earlier for the Ireland match when it was frozen off and now miss put again when the postponed match happens. With just seven rounds to go, the clubs are getting testy as some try to end in the top six and others try avoid the bottom two.
Biarritz may just have the best chance of getting out of their hole.
The top matches are those in Toulon and Clermont-Ferrand. Sadly the latter – one vs two – will be without several top players as they are above all the clubs feeding France. Clermont will be without their strike power in Wesley Fofana, Aurélien Rougerie and Julien Malzieu plus Morgan Parra, Julien Bonnaire and Vincent Debaty. Toulouse will be without Jean-Baptiste Poux, Yoann Maestri, Thierry Dusautoir, Louis Picamoles, Lionel Beauxis, Vincent Clerc and Clément Poitrenaud. In addition Maxime Médard was injured against Scotland and will be out of action for between six and nine months.
It’s such a pity that such a top match should be so spoilt.
Fixtures, Round 19
Friday, 2 March 2012
20.45: Toulon vs Montpellier at Stade Mayol
Saturday, 3 March 2012
14.15: Agen vs Perpignan at Stade Armandie
14.15: Biarritz vs Bordeaux-Bègles at Stade Maurice Boyau
14.15: Brive vs Stade Français at Stade Amédée Domenech
14.15: Racing-Métro vs Bayonne at Stade Yves du Manoir (Colombes)
16.15: Clermont vs Toulouse at Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin
20.45: Castres vs Lyon at Stade Pierre Antoine
Log after Round 18
All clubs have now played 18 matches each.
1 Toulouse 69
2 Clermont 61
3 Toulon 52
4 Castres 48
5 Montpellier 48
6 Stade Français 42
7 Racing Métro 41
8 Agen 40
9 Bordeaux-Bègles 37
10 Brive 33
11 Perpignan 31
12 Bayonne 29
13 Biarritz 25
14 Lyon 24
Teams
Brive will be without their speedy threequarter Ronnie Cooke. He suffered a double fracture of his cheekbone in a high tackle by Juan Martín Leguizamón.
Anton van Zyl is back from a broken ankle to take a place on the Parisian bench.
Toulon: 15 Benjamin Lapeyre, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 David Smith, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Olivier Missoup, 5 Christophe Samson, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Mickaël Ivaldi, 17 Laurent Emmanuelli, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Joe El Abd, 20 Geoffroy Messina, 21 Luke Rooney, 22 Fabien Cibray, 23 Davit Kubriashvili
Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Thomas Combezou, 11 Yoan Audrin, 10 Santiago Fernandez, 9 Benoît Paillaugue, 8 Mamuka Gorgodze, 7 Rémy Martin, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Alikisio Fakate, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Erasmus Jansen van Vuuren, 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy , 17 Juan Figallo, 18 Drikus Hancke, 19 Masini Matadigo, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Paul Bosch, 22 Martin Bustos Moyano, 23 Maximiliano Bustos
Agen: 15 Silvère Tian, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Miguel Avramovic, 12 Junior Palesasa, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Ueleni Fono, 6 Jean-Joseph Monribot, 5 Lisiate Fa’aoso, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Jalil Narjissi, 1 Bernard N’Nomo.
Replacements: 16 Julien Janaudy, 17 Semisi Telefoni, 18 Adri Badenhorst, 19 Marc Giraud, 20 Sylvain Dupuy, 21 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 22 Romain Samuel, 23 Beka Sheklashvili
Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Adrien Planté, 13 David Marty, 12 Gavin Hume, 11 Julien Candelon, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Henri Tuilagi, 7 Bertrand Guiry, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Gerrie Britz, 4 Romain Taofifenua, 3 Danie Theart, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jérôme Schuster
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Olivier Olibeau, 19 Ovidiu Tonita, 20 David Mélé, 21 Jérôme Porical, 22 Jean-Pierre Perez, 23 Benoît Bourrust.
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 Pelu Taele, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Yvan Watremez.
Replacements: 16 Benoît August, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Florian Faure, 20 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Ilikena Bolakoro, 23 Fabien Barcella
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Blair Connor, 13 Félix Le Bourhis, 12 Julien Rey, 11 Rafael Carballo, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Justin Purll, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Cameron Treloar, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Wayne Avei, 1 Laurent Delboulbes
Replacements: 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 Hikairo Forbes, 18 Daniel Leo, 19 Louis Madaule, 20 Julien Seron, 21 Gerard Fraser, 22 Vungakoto Lilo, 23 Albert Toetu
Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Julien Caminati, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Guillaume Namy, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Mathieu Belie, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Simon Azoulai, 6 Thibault Dubarry, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Retief Uys, 3 Alexandre Barozzi, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Vasil Kakovin.
Replacements: 16 Iuri Natriashvili, 17 Davit Kinchagishvili, 18 Olivier Caisso, 19 Poutasi Luafutu, 20 Agustin Figuerola, 21 Vincent Forgues, 22 Jacques Boussuge, 23 Patrick Barnard
Stade Français: 15 Paul Williams, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 David Lyons, 7 Pierre Rabadan, 6 Arthur Chollon, 5 Gerhard Mostert, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Francisco Tetaz, 2 Aled De Malmanche, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempéré, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Scott Lavalla, 19 Anton van Zyl, 20 Jérôme Fillol, 21 Jonathan Danty, 22 Paul Warwick, 23 Stanley Wright.
Racing-Métro: 15 Gaëtan Germain, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Sébastien Descons, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Antoine Battut, 6 John Leo’o, 5 François van der Merwe, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Mikaele Tu’ugahala, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Karim Ghezal, 19 Álvaro Galindo, 20 Mathieu Lorée, 21 Juan Imhoff, 22 François Steyn, 23 Salemane Sa
Bayonne: 15 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Lionel Mazars, 12 Sam Gerber, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Dwayne Haare, 7 Julien Puricelli, 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 Troy Flavell, 19 Rob Linde, 20 Cédric Garcia, 21 Marvin O’Connor, 22 Thibault Lacroix, 23 Vitolio Manukula
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Regan King, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 10 David Skrela, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Elvis Vermeulen (captain), 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Ti’i Paulo, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Raphaël Chaume, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Kevin Senio, 21 Brock James, 22 Brent Russell, 23 Danie Kotze.
Toulouse: 15 Nicolas Bézy, 14 Maxime Payen, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Gillian Galan, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Romain Millo Chlusky, 4 Gregory Lamboley, 3 Johnson Falefa, 2 Christopher Toleafoa, 1 Daan Human
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Yassin Boutemane, 18 Patricio Albacete, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Luke McAlister, 21 Shaun Sowerby, 22 Yann David, 23 Census Johnston
Castres: 15 Romain Teulet 14 Romain Martial, 13 Paul Bonnefond, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Seremaia Bai, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Joe Tekori, 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Karena Wihongi, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Saimone Taumoepeau, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Jannie Bornman, 20 Ibrahim Diarra, 21 Thomas Sanchou, 22 Pierre Bernard, 23 Michael Coetzee
Lyon: 15 Régis Lespinas, 14 Franck Romanet, 13 Vinaya Wakanivuga, 12 Nicolas Raffault, 11 Mosese Ratuvou, 10 Laurent Tranier, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Nicolas Bontinck, 7 Vincent Clément, 6 Eugene N Zi, 5 Coenie Basson, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Anthony Roux, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Xavier Fiard
Replacements: 16 Sébastien Petit, 17 Guram Kavtidze, 18 Arnaud Dorier, 19 Luke Abraham, 20 Brice Salobert, 21 Thibauld Suchier, 22 Rémy Grosso, 23 Antoine Guillamon
Match Officials
Toulon vs Montpellier at Stade Mayol
Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert, Jean-Michel Schutz
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier
Agen vs Perpignan at Stade Armandie
Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Laurent Millotte, René Bordeneuve
Television match official: Daniel Dartigeas
Biarritz vs Bordeaux at Stade Maurice Boyau
Referee: Franck Maciello
Assistant referees: Akim Hadj Bachir, Régis Gabard
Television match official: Gilles Cogne
Brive vs Stade Français at Stade Amédée Domenech
Referee: Jean-Luc Rebollal
Assistant referees: Alexandre Ruiz, Christophe Graviou
Television match official: Daniel Irazoqui
Racing-Métro vs Bayonne at Stade Yves du Manoir (Colombes)
Referee: Sébastien Minery
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzere, Benoît Escoubet
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier
Clermont vs Toulouse at Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos, Thomas Dejean
Television match official: Philippe Bonhoure
Castres vs Lyon at Stade Pierre Antoine
Referee: Patrick Pechambert
Assistant referees: David Rosich, Philippe Gorbenko
Television match official: Hervé Dubes
