We’re in for an interesting round of Top 14 action with a number of the competition’s powerhouses missing stalwarts due to Six Nations commitments.
Saturday 4 February
Toulouse 2/13 | Draw 25/1 | Bayonne 46/10 (16:00)
Ladder leaders Toulouse and this season’s surprise package, Bayonne, go head to head in the Round 17 opener at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.
The hosts are missing a plethora of talent this weekend with their talismanic half-back pairing of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack away with the national side. With Toulouse understrength for this one, Bayonne may well fancy an upset here.
Bayonne moved up to fifth place on the ladder courtesy of last weekend’s 37-9 bonus-point win over Brive. They looked the part in that game and if they perform to a similar standard this Saturday, they may well be able to give an understrength Toulouse side a real run for their money.
Like their opponents, Toulouse also head into this one off the back of a win having beaten reigning champions Montpellier 23-9. They showed a lot of grit to get the better of last weekend’s opponents and they’ll need to do the same here against this dangerous Bayonne outfit.
I’m going to have a small strike on the visitors here. They’re in good touch, and while they aren’t the best team on the road they could well take advantage of Toulouse missing some key men.
Pau | Draw | Racing (18:00) *betting tba
It’s over to the Stade du Hameau for our next fixture which will see 12th-placed Pau take on fourth-placed Racing 92. This game is of vital importance to both sides with Pau looking to pull away from the relegation scrap and Racing looking to entrench themselves inside the top four.
Like Toulouse, Racing will be without some of their key menwith star pivot Finn Russel and hooker Teddy Baubigny away on Six Nations duty. They do have a very settled squad still and they haven’t been as hard hit by international call-ups as some of the other teams.
The two sides come into this one off the back of contrasting results with the visitors beating La Rochelle 39-36 in an absolute thriller last weekend while Pau went down 27-16 to Toulon.
The absence of Russel is a major blow for Racing but still think they’ll be able to get the job done on home soil.
Clermont 37/100 | Draw 22/1 | Castres 9/4 (18:00)
We head across to the Parc des Sports Marcel-Michelin for our next encounter, which sees 11th-placed Clermont take on 10th-placed Castres. Both teams are in with both a shout of making the play-offs and also being drawn into a relegation battle, which illustrates just how tight things are in the French top tier this season.
The hosts suffered their ninth loss of the campaign this past weekend as they went down 34-14 away to Lyon. In further bad news for Clermont fans, their side will take to the field this weekend without wingers Damien Penaud and Gabin Villere, who are with the French Six Nations side.
Castres had a far better time of it in Round 16 than their opponents this weekend as they managed a 23-18 home win over Bordeaux. They have also been less hard hit by Six Nations call-ups only losing hooker Gaetan Barlot to the French national side.
The hosts really need to start picking up points if they stand any chance of making the play-offs. I’m backing them to do just that this weekend.
Brive 7/20 | Draw 22/1 | Perpignan 47/20 (18:00)
It’s the battle of the cellar-dwellers next up with 13th-placed Brive taking on 14th-placed Clermont. Both sides desperately need the win here to have any chance of avoiding automatic relegation or the relegation play-offs.
The hosts have really struggled this term and suffered their 11th defeat of the campaign last weekend as they went down 37-9 to a bang in-form Bayonne outfit. Perpignan had a far more positive time of it last weekend as they managed a massive upset beating second-placed Stade 31-24.
While they are in poor form, home-ground advantage is likely to be the key decider here. Small strike on Brive.
La Rochelle 2/11 | Draw 25/1 | Lyon 42/10 (18:00)
We’ve got a tasty affair next up with third-placed La Rochelle taking on seventh-placed Lyon. Only two points separate the sides and this one will have a massive bearing on the make up of the play-off berths.
The visitors had a solid time of it in Round 16 as they registered an impressive 34-14 win over Clermont. This was their second domestic win on the trot having beaten Pau 12-21 in Round 15. Lyon have been pretty hard hit with international call-ups as scrum-half Baptiste Couilloud, wing Ethan Dumortier, flank Dylan Cretin and lock Romain Taofifenua have linked up with the French squad.
La Rochelle, while being involved in an absolute thriller, could not get the win going down by three points in a high scorer to Racing in Paris. Like Lyon, La Rochelle have lost a handful of players to the French national squad with fly-half Antoine Hastoy, backrower Gregory Alldritt, lock Thomas Lauvault, props Reda Wardi and Uini Atonio all called up to the French national team.
La Rochelle have had their engine room absolutely decimated by Six Nations call-ups and I reckon that will hamper them significantly. My money is on Lyon taking this one at a canter.
Montpellier 1/3 | Draw 22/1 | Toulon 5/2 (22:05)
The penultimate game of the weekend pits heavyweights Montpellier and Toulon up against each other. The hosts currently lie eighth on the table and need to start picking up points if they are to defend their Top 14 title. Toulon are a place behind them on the standings but a win here would see them leapfrog Montpellier on the ladder.
The two sides experienced contrasting fortunes in Round 16 with Montpellier going down 23-9 away to Toulouse while Toulon registered a solid 27-16 home win over Pau.
Like most of the heavyweights in the Top 14, both these sides have lost players to Six Nations call-ups with Toulon losing prop Danny Priso, back row heavy hitter Charles Ollivon and Welsh fly-half Dan Biggar, while Montpellier will be without prop Mohamed Haouas, locks Bastien Chalureau and Paul Willemse, backrowers Alexandre Bécognée and Yacouba Camara as well as scrum-half Léo Coly.
While Montpellier have been harder hit in terms of numbers being called up to Six Nations squads, Toulon have lost some really key players especially fly-half Dan Biggar. With this in mind, I’m leaning towards the hosts edging this one by the narrowest of margins.
Stade Francais v Bordeaux
Sunday 5 February
Stade Jean-Bouin
22:05
Sunday 5 February
Stade 32/100 | Draw 22/1 | Bordeaux 51/20 (22:05)
We close things off at the Stade Jean-Bouin where a wounded Stade Francais outfit will be looking to make home-ground advantage count when they take on a Bordeaux side that is now only six points adrift of them on the Top 14 ladder.
As touched on above, Stade suffered something of an upset last weekend as they went down 24-31 to cellar-dwellers Perpignan. Stade will have actually been disappointed to not have turned things around late in the game as they trailed by 14 points heading into the final quarter but Perpignan were a man down due to a red card. Bordeaux also heads into this one off the back of a loss having gone down 23-18 to Castres.
Both teams will be without a couple big names with Stade losing flanker Sekou Macalou, centre Julien Delbouis, and prop Clément Castets to the French squad while Bordeaux will be without fullback Romain Buros, wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey, centre Yoram Moefana, fly-half Matthieu Jalibert, lock Thomas Jolmès and prop Sipili Falatea.
Stade have lost fewer players to the French national side and I reckon this will stand them in good stead against a Bordeaux outfit that has bled players to national call-ups.
