Toulon v Stade Francais: Top 14 preview
Last Updated: 06/06/15 1:53pm
Toulon face Stade Francais in the first of two Top 14 semi-finals live on Sky Sports this weekend.
Toulon have won the competition four times, but only one of those victories have come in the professional era. In 2014 they defeated Castres 18-10, but lost the two finals they attended in the two seasons prior to their title win.
Stade Francais, on the other hand, have not won the competition since 2007, when they beat Clermont at Stade de France. Despite that fact, they are still the second most successful side in the history of the tournament, with 13 wins to their name.
Stade Francais are looking to do the treble on Toulon this season, having beaten them in both of this season's home and away fixtures. At Stade Mayol, Stade ran out 28-24 winners before easing to a 30-6 win over the defending champions at the end of last year.
Toulon have opted for the same starting side that brought them European glory in the Champions Cup final in May, with Bakkies Botha and Ali Williams packing down behind former All Black Carl Hayman. All three will be playing their final game if Toulon fail to win the match, having announced their respective retirements at the end of this season.
Stade's Springbok fly-half Morne Steyn scored 28 points in his side’s 38-15 quarter-final win over Oyonnax, and will once again be at the helm for the semi-final clash, partnered with France’s Julien Dupuy in the half-backs.
No 8 Sergio Parisse, who scored in Stade’s home victory over Toulon, captains the side from the back of the scrum.
Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 1 Xavier Chiocci, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 3 Carl Hayman (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Juan Smith, 7 Steffon Armitage, 8 Chris Masoe.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Alexandre Menini, 18 Jocelino Suta, 19 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Maxime Mermoz, 21 Delon Armitage, 22 Michael Claassens, 23 Martin Castrogiovanni.
Stade Francais: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Jeremy Sinzelle, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Julien Dupuy, 1 Heinke van der Merwe, 2 Remi Bonfils, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Hugh Pyle, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 6 Antoine Burban, 7 Raphael Lakafia, 8 Sergio Parisse (c).
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempere, 17 Zak Taulafo, 18 Pascal Pape, 19 Jono Ross, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 23 Davit Kubriashvili.