Top 14 weekend preview
Four of the Top 14 title contenders go head-to-head this weekend as Perpignan visit Paris and Biarritz travel to Toulouse.
By Ross Hastie
Last Updated: 23/10/09 9:56am
Bayonne will do well to maintain their unbeaten home record in the Top 14 when they entertain Castres at Stade Jean Dauger on Friday.
Castres currently lie second and have their sights set on top spot, although even their most die-hard fans will concede that they have been given a relatively easy start to the season.
The next four weeks however will be far tougher: Perpignan, Clermont, Toulouse and Biarritz are on the menu.
Both sides come into the game off the back of Challenge Cup wins. While Bayonne would have enjoyed taking a revenge win away to Racing, Castres stretched their legs against Rovigo, scoring 76 points after going down to Toulon a week earlier.
Castres did not play at full strength in Europe and, with fresh legs, will fancy their chances in Bayonne considering their hosts lost to Albi a month ago.
Only Stade Français and Clermont have scored more tries than Bayonne but Richard Dourthe's side have failed to produce on the road.
Craig Gower and Salvatore Perugini returned to Bayonne on Wednesday after training with Italy in Rome. Winger Pepito Elhorga has still not recovered from a torn thigh muscle and No.8 Marc Baget's season is over because of a ruptured cruciate ligament.
For Castres, scrum-half Alexandre Albouy (calf), former All Black prop Carl Hoeft (calf) and South Africans Michael Coetzee (hamstring) and Daron Nell are missing.
Coming off the back of seven straight wins (in all competitions), Biarritz will head to the Stade Ernest Wallon to face Toulouse on Saturday full of confidence.
Their demolition of Gloucester in the HEC was yet more proof that they will be one of the teams to beat this year, both domestically and in Europe.
Toulouse also seem to have hit a vein of form, though. Vincent Clerc repeatedly crossing the whitewash is an ominous sign for anyone set to face the France's most successful club.
After finding their legs against Montpellier, impressive wins against Sale and Harlequins have giving Toulouse plenty of confidence, especially among the backs. The forwards have been smashing everything in their path this year, and with the fast men now coming to the party, the home side look dangerous.
Battle
The Basques visitors have however decided to rotate their squad and lock Jérôme Thion, who has played all of their 11 games this year, has been given a rest. Loose forward Magnus Lund and centre Damien Traille are also being kept on ice.
While the loss of loose forward Yannick Nyanga for six months is huge blow for Toulouse, they do have a couple of players leaving the the treatment room. International full-back Clément Poitrenaud played a game with the youth side and is eager to pull on a first team jersey again. Centre Maleli Kunavore (broken arm) and lock Yohan Montès (hamstring) have started training again, but are not yet fit to take the field against Biarritz.
Montpellier's up-and-down form seems destined to drag them into a long and difficult battle to avoid relegation. Their loss to Connacht with a below-strength side will be for less of a concern than their lowly place in the domestic standings.
That said, Montpellier have lost only once at home this season (to Toulouse) after upsetting Biarritz, Perpignan and Toulon. The Heraltais are yet to win on the road in the Top 14 this season, so they will be banking on their form at Yves Du Manoir.
Clermont, on the other hand, have been consistently good both home and away, in Europe and in France. Bar their blip in Perpignan, the Jaunards have once gain been the bench-mark this season and deserve their status as leaders. With Stade Français next up, they'll want to gain some momentum on Saturday.
Clermont centre Marius Joubert is crocked again. The South African has undergone the same groin operation that he did last year, putting him out for three months.
Lionel Faure, Thibaut Privat and Mario Ledesma are being rested. Loïc Jacquet is back but Anthony Floch needs another week to be fully fit.
With Joubert's injury leaving a gap in midfiled, Clermont are now impatiently waiting on the arrival of utility back Tasesa Lavea, who is expected in the Auvergne at the end of the month.
Unbeaten at home this season, Toulon will be keen to build on two impressive wins in the Challenge Cup when they entertain Bourgoin.
Victory over Guinness Premiership leaders Saracens underlined then class of Philippe Saint-André's side.
However, tries have been few and far between at Felix Mayol. Saint-André and coach Tana Umaga would surely like to see their team rely less on the boot of Jonny Wilkinson.
Rested
Only Albi have scored fewer tries than Toulon - not a stat you would associate with a team harbouring both domestic and European ambitions.
Bourgoin have caused a few upsets themselves this season, and a string of wins (against Montauban, Albi, Leeds and Bucharest) have confirmed their good form. But Eric Catinot seems pre-occupied with the reception of Brive next week and a couple of players are being rested.
Toulon are not taking any chances as Wilkinson, Joe Van Niekerk and Pierre Mignoni are all in the extended matchday squad.
Georgian prop Davit Kubriashvili signed a new two-year deal to stay in Toulon this week.
After a promising start to the season, three straight losses have seen Montauban slip down the standings. Two Challenge Cup wins - one of which was against Albi a fortnight ago - will have provided Marc Raynaud's side with a timely boost in confidence.
Albi have signed USA internationals Matekitonga Moeakiola and Johan Van der Giessen to bolster its injury-hit squad.
Moeakiola is a 31-year-old Tonga-born prop, while 27-year-old van der Giessen is a lock.
Meanwhile Laurent Baluc-Rittener has been banned for 40 days for his part in the half-time scuffle with Bayonne while Kevin Boulogne and Christophe Lafoy have been suspended for 10 days for their conduct on the field the same day.
After another troubling week behind the scenes (which saw President Patrick Sébastien forced to resign), Brive need to produce the goods on the pitch against Racing Métro.
Outclassed by Leinster last week, the Corréziens are as good as out of the Heineken Cup and things aren't much better in the Top 14 either.
Sébastien pointed to a "too many cooks" situation before he was axed, so it looks like the kitchen will continue to be very full. Another poor performance against Racing and the soup could turn sour.
Bitter-sweet
Good news for Brive is that Racing have not travelled well this season and Sébastien Chabal (knee), Lionel Nallet (thumb), François Steyn (ankle) and Jérôme Fillol will not be in the Parisians' side. All four have returned to training, but they aren't ready for competition.
Racing have signed 19-year-old South African Willem Le Roux from the University of Stellenbosch as a medical joker for injured Italy international Andrea Masi.
A sold-out 80,000-seater Stade de France is expected for a rematch of last season's semi-final between Stade Français and Perpignan.
Perpignan will have bitter-sweet memories of the last time they played Stade Français in Paris. The Catalans snatched a late draw but were forced to see Dan Carter taken from the field in what would be his last game for USAP.
Stade Français have not won at the national stadium for since last June, losing three times and drawing once since their last win (against Biarritz at the end of the 2007-2008 season).
But off the back of victory in Bath, the Parisians will fancy there chances this time around as they aim to take their unbeaten streak to seven.
Perpignan have been poor away from home his season, having already stumbled in Montpellier, Bourgoin and Treviso - not what you'd expect from the defending champions.
The Catalans will head to the capital without Nicolas Durand, Perry Freshwater and Farid Sid, but Benoît Bourrust, Robins Tchale-Watchou, Damien Chouly, David Mélé and Gavin Hume are fit again.
Stade Français loose forward Juan Manuel Leguizamon has been sidelined for three weeks with sprained knee.