Top 14 Round Two: Preview

Tillous-Borde: Will skipper Toulon

After an impressive start to their Top 14 campaign last weekend, Toulon will look to crack on when they host Clermont on Saturday.

Toulon started their season off with a bang against Biarritz, while Clermont got caught up in an arm-wrestle with Lyon and had to come from behind to win last Saturday.

The last time these teams met, a bad-tempered affair saw a number of punch-ups. Luckily most of those involved in the fisticuffs are away on international duty.

Clermont are expected to send a youthful looking team to the south coast including full-back Jean-Marcellin Buttin, wing Noa Nakaitaci and scrum-half Ludovic Radosavljevic

Injured Toulon captain Joe van Niekerk is still missing from the team sheet so French international scrum-half Sébastien Tillous-Borde will lead the home side.

Former springbok fly-half Andre Pretorius is in the squad but is expected to play second fiddle to 24-year-old Julien Dumora, who impressed last week.

Bad news for Clermont is that young centre Mark Bennett has ruptured knee ligaments and needs surgery while Julien Malzieu and Anthony Floch are both doubtful for this weekend.

The other big clash of the weekend is on the outskirts of Paris where Perpignan will also be out to confirm their opening round form against heavy-hitters Racing Metro.

Perpignan have become somewhat of a bogey team for Racing - and surprising at it may seem, the Parisians have yet to taste victory against USAP since their return to the top flight.

And the Catalans will travel to the capital with a hint of confidence after a solid win over Castres last weekend.

Demolition

USAP have a long injury list that includes Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, Jean-Pierre Perez, Henry Tuilagi (amongst others) but former Wallaby Ryan Cross makes his first appearance in the Catalan squad.

Early leaders Stade Français face a tricky trip to Castres - although they historically have enjoyed playing them, with a 18-5 winning record.

That said, the Parisians have lost on their last two visits to Stade Pierre Antoine.

Last week's demolition of Bordeaux would have been the confidence booster that Stade's new-look side needed at the start of the season.

Castres ended the last regular season unbeaten at home but they looked out of sorts in their first game of the new term in Perpignan. Back at home, they'll be searching for the consistency that took them to the play-offs last season.

Agen will be looking for another shock win when they take on Biarritz having secured a last-minute victory in Brive in the opening week.

Biarritz by contrast where hammered in Toulon on day one after promising so much with their strong pre-season displays.

The Basques have lost Benoit Baby for a month but they do however welcome back fly-half Julien Peyrelongue and flank Erik Lund.

Agen have been boosted by the return to fitness of scrum-half Sylvain Dupuy.

Despite losing to Racing last week, Montpellier will be relatively happy with their opening performance - and they will look to build on this against Brive.

Young fly-half Raphael Lagarde is set to be the next big thing to come out Montpellier and looked class against Racing.

Brive could not have started their season in worse fashion. After leading 19-3 at half-time against minnows Agen, they crumbled in the dying minutes to see victory slip from their grasps.

Possession

So a road trip to last season's losing finalists (before heading to Perpignan next week) is not what Ugo Mola's team needed.

CAB have won three of their last five games in Montpellier but where thumped 35-9 there last November.

Bordeaux have moved their first home fixture of the season to the local soccer stadium, where a big crowd is expected to welcome Bayonne.

Bayonne's defence was the talking point of the opening weekend as they managed to keep the defending champions at bay despite enjoying minimal possession.

While Bayonne were clinical in their ability to score with every incursion into the opposition half, Basque fans will be hoping their team open up over the course of the season.

Bayonne will be without two of their key players in Benjamin Boyet and Pepito Elhorga, who are both injured.

It's the battle of the champions as PRO D2 winners Lyon host France's most successful club in Toulouse.

Lyon have not been done any favours by the draw as they've been thrown straight into the deep end. Last week's brave performance in Clermont wasn't enough for victory but it showed that les Lyonnais will not be pushovers this season.

If last week is anything to go by, we're in a for a clash of styles: LOU made just 21 passes in Clermont while Toulouse made 159 in Bayonne!

Indeed, les Rouge et Noires would have been incredibly frustrated to have lost a game they dominated in terms of territory and possession, but will be encouraged by a string debut from Luke McAlister, who had an impact off the bench.