Toulon face Racing 92 in Top 14 final at Nou Camp
Last Updated: 24/06/16 10:23pm
Two powerhouses of the French game, Racing 92 and Toulon, go head-to-head in search of the Top 14 title at Barcelona's Camp Nou on Friday night, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7.30pm.
With France hosting the European football championships, it will be the first time that the French domestic final has ever taken place overseas.
The match is set to break the all-time record attendance for a domestic club rugby union game with all of the 98,000 tickets sold.
Racing 92 progressed into the final with a dramatic last-minute 34-33 victory over Clermont. Dan Carter's final conversion secured the result and it's an unchanged line-up that will face Toulon.
Carter partners with Maxime Machenaud in the half-backs while Juan Imhoff, Joe Rokocoko and Brice Dulin continue to form an electric back three. Dimitri Szarzewski captains from hooker and will pack down with Benjamin Tameifuna and Eddy Ben Arous in the front row.
Toulon booked their place in Barcelona with a 27-18 victory over Montpellier and welcomed Leigh Halfpenny back from injury. The full-back kicked 17 of their 27 points and retains his place in the starting XV for the final.
The only personnel change is the introduction of Mathieu Bastareaud in place of Ma'a Nonu, who was involved in a nasty head collision during the semi-final and has not been able to go through to return-to-play protocols in time.
Five points or less has separated the sides when they have met this season and the expectation is that Friday's final will be just as close.
With so many global stars of the game including Carter, Halfpenny, Rokocoko, Matt Giteau, Bryan Habana and Steffon Armitage it promises to be a thrilling finale to the Top 14 season.
Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Jonathan Pélissié; 1 Xavier Chiocci, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), Levan Chilachava, 4 Samu Manoa, 5 Konstantin Mikautadze, 6 Mamuka Gorgodze, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 8 Steffon Armitage.
Replacements: 16 Jean Charles Orioli, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Romain Taofiféuna, 19 Virgile Bruni, 20 Théo Belan, 21 Delon Armitage, 22 Frédéric Michalak, 23 Manusa Saulo
Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Johan Goosen, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud; 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (c), 3 Benjamin Tameifuna, 4 Bernard le Roux, 5 Manuel Carizza, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 8 Chris Masoe.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, Khatchik Vartanov, 18 Juandré Kruger, 19 Antoine Claassen, 20 Xavier Chauveau, 21 Marc Andreu, 22 Albert Vulivuli, 23 Luc Ducalcon
Watch the Top 14 final between Racing 92 and Toulon, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7.30pm on Friday. Catch the match for £6.99 with a NOW TV day pass.