Preview: Top 14, Round 2
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:02
There may well be some more shocks in store for us with the second round of the French Top 14 due this weekend - two matches in a handful of days.
The surprise losers on the first day were Castres at home but above all the champions Toulouse and the 2007-08 log leaders Clermont Auvergne. The giantkillers were Montpellier, newly promoted Toulon and also Bayonne.
* Click here to look back at the Round One results, the standings or the Round Two fixtures.
Somehow a shock looks less likely this week. But then it looked wholly unlikely last week. It's hard to see Montpellier, who will be without three influential players, doing it again, especially away from home, especially as stung Clermont have been reinforced.
Toulon have another home match and meet Brive who have so often looked good in theory and less good in the match.
One would expect the Parisians to win well again, which leaves three interesting matches./
You would tend to think that Bayonne, who won away, are likely to win at home Bourgoin are better away than at home, But Perpignan are ambitious and well-staffed.
The pick of the matches may well be Castres' encounter with Biarritz. After their home defeat against the "other" Basques, Castres are vulnerable - and angry. Biarritz are still not convincing. Castres may well come away with a win.
After just the first round there are injuries. Lionel Nallet, Castres's captain, has injured his knee and is out for three months. Robin Solana of Montpellier has had to have an operation on his knee and is out for six months. Alix Popham of Brive, new to the Tope 14, broke a hand in the firs round and will be out for some time. Others like to be missing are Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux and Alexis Palisson of Brive, Martin Jagr (fibula) of Toulon, Federico Todeschini (left arm, Louis Picamoles and last weekend's captain Fulgence Ouedraogo of Montpellier, Thierry Dusautoir (finger on right hand) of Toulouse, Florian Faure (calf) of Castres and Rida Jahouer (shoulder) of Montauban.
On the other hand there are reinforcements. Clermont Auvergne get back Napolioni Nalaga, Marius Joubert and Anthony Floch. Hard-hit Brive get Ben Cohen, flank Vincent Forgues, No.8 Simon Azoulai and hooker Jawad Djoudi back.Biarritz are happy to welcome back Imanol Harinordoquy from injury and Trevor Hall from a stomach bug.
Teams:
What teams we manage to get, we shall publish. If anybody can help with teams, please send them to pauld@365digital.co.za. It would be great if all were as well organised as Montpellier.
Biarritz: 15 Benjamin Thiery, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Laurent Tranier, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Bolakoro, 10 Vincent Courrent, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Magnus Lund, 5 David Couzinet, 4 Jérôme Thion (captain), 3 Benoît Lecouls, 2 Antonin Raffault, 3 Fabien Barcella
Replacements: 16 Benoît Denoyelle, 17 Benoît Bourrust, 18 Trevor Hall, 19 Jean-Baptiste Roidot, 20 Julien Peyrelongue, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Jean-Baptists Gobelet, 23 Eduard Coetzee.
Bourgoin squad: Pascal Peyron, Arnaud Tchougong, Tone Kopelani, Rémy Vigneaux/Jordan Merle, Karena Wihongi, Pablo Cardinali, Coenie Basson, Camille Levast, Williams, Sylvain Nicolas, Bogdan Leonte, Yann Labrit, Julien Frier, Thomas Genevois, Morgan Parra, Mickaël Forest, Benjamin Boyet, Sébastien Laloo, Yann David, David Janin, Matias Viazzo, Rudi Coetzee, Matthieu Nicolas, Florian Denos, Anthony Forest
Brive: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Lachlan Mackay, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Liam Davies, 8 Vincent Forgues, 7 Antonie Claassen, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Yohan Van Zyl, 3 Pierre Capdevielle, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Davit Khinchagishvili
Replacements: tba
Castres: 15 Thomas Bouquie, 14 Paul Bonnefond, 13 Lionel Mazars, 12 Salesi Sika, 11 Rafael Carballo, 10 Cammie McIntyre, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Losefa Tekori, 7 Leiataua Tomiki, 6 Rodrigo Capo Ortega (captain), 5 Kiril Koulemine, 4 Ludovic Michaux, 3 Danie Saayman, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Kees Lensing
Replacements: Fabio Staibano, Colin Gaston, Romain Terrain, Steeve Malonga, Thomas Sanchou, Romain Boscus, Anthony Lagardere
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Anthony Floch, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Seremaia Baï, 12 Marius Joubert, 11
Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 John Senio, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Elvis Vermeulen, 6 Alexandre Audebert, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Vincent Debaty, 2 Benoît Cabello, 1 Simms Davison.
Replacements: 16 Mirko Lozupone, 17 Laurent Emmanuelli, 18 Thomas Domingo, 19 Christophe Samson, 21 Alexandre Lapandry, 22 Pierre Mignoni, 23 Benoît Baby
Dax: 15 David Bortolussi, 14 Bruno Hiriart, 13 Federico Martin Aramburu, 12 Duncan Bell, 11 Lucas Borges, 10 Antoine Vignau-Tuquet, 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Vincent Deniau, 7 Jannie Bornman, 6 Mathieu Lièvremont (captain), 5 Mickaël Bert, 4 Anthony Mazel, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 William Bonet, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Jaen, 17 Kasiano Lealamanua, 18 Cédric Guironnet, 19 Joel Koffi, 20 Nicolas Morlaes, 21 Laurent Marticoréna, 22 Laurent Diaz, 23 Mattin Auzqui
Montauban: 15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Adrien
Figueiredo, 13 Miguel Boris Avramovic, 12 Yoan Audrin, 11 Jean-Emmanuel Cassin, 10 Régis Lespinas, 9 Julien Audy, 8 Abdellatif Boutaty, 7 Ibrahim Diarra, 6 Matthew Clarkin (captain), 5 Rowan Frost, 4 Scott Murray, 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Brice Mach, 1 Bogdan Balan
Replacements used: Camille Traversa, Benjamin Sa, Nick Adams, Romain Sazy
Mont-de-Marsan: 15 Florent Cazeaux, 14 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 13 Simon Ternisien, 12 Alban Genthieu, 11 Damien Cler, 10 Yannick Lafforgue, 9 Bernard Arrayet, 8 Maréchal, 7 Julien Tastet, 6 Marc Giraud, 5 Laurent Travini, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Pieter Grobler, 2 Romain Lauga, 1 Patrick Blanco.
Replacements: 16 Trevor Leota, 17 Ben Coutts, 18 Rudolphe Berek, 19 Jérôme Dhien, 20 Lionel Duthil, 21 Delmas, 22 Yohann Durquet, 23 Sébastien Ormaechea.
Montpellier: 15 Mark McHugh, 14 Thomas Brana, 13 Frikkie Welsh, 12 Sylvain Mirande, 11
Sébastien Kuzbic, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Justin Marshall, 8 Warren Britz, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Jérôme Vallée, 5 Drikus Hancke, 4 Gonçalo Uva, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Fabien Rofes, 1 Pietman van Niekerk.
Replacements (from): Mickaël Ladhuie, Danie Thiart, Benjamin Goze, Vassili Bost, Julien Tomas, Olivier Sarramea, Florian Nicot, Eugene van Staden, Matthieu Petitdemange.
Perpignan: 15 Philip Burger, 14 Adrien Planté, 13 David Marty, 12 Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 11 Julien Candelon, 10 Nicolas Laharrague, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Jean-Pierre Pérez, 7 Henry Tuilagi, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Gerrie Britz, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Nicolas Mas (captain), 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Kisi Pulu.
Replacements (from): Guilhem Guirado, Perry Freshwater, Guillaume Vilaceca, Viliami Vaki, Yannick Parent, Nicolas Durand, Steve Meyer, Jérôme Schuster, Gavin Hume
Stade
Français: 15 Nicolas Jeanjean, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Mathieu Bastareaud, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Brian Liebenberg, 9 Noel Oelschig, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 5 Simon Taylor, 4 Pierre Vigouroux, 3 Franck Montanella, 2 Mathieu Blin, 1 Pierre Correia.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Rodrigo Roncero, 18 Robins Tchale-Watchou, 19 Pierre Rabadan, 20 Terry Bouhraoua, 21 Stéphane Glas, 22 Carl Pautric, 23 Sylvain Marconnet
Toulon: 15 Tusi Pisi, 14 Clément Imbert, 13 Sonny Bill Williams, 12 Mafileo Kefu, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Sébastien Fauqué, 9 Matt Henjak, 8 Olivier Missoup, 7 Fotunuupule Auelua, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3David Banquet, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Mathieu Larrouy.
Replacements: 16 Philip Fitzgerald, 17 Saimone Taumoepeau, 18 Jocelino Suta, 19 Thomas Sourice, 20 Ramiro
Pez, 21 Sonny Falconetti, 22 Norman Jordaan, 23 Ben Castle.
Toulouse: 15 Médard, 14 Bertus Swanepoel, 13 Gimenez, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Belie, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Grégory Lamboley, 7 Finau Maka, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Romain Millo-Chluski, 3 Salvatore Perugini, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Yohan Montès, 18 Daan Human, 19 Jean Bouilhou, 20 Shaun Sowerby, 21 Jean Baptiste Elissalde, 22 Gaffie du Toit, 23 Manu Ahotaeiloa
Match officials:
Clermont Auvergne vs Montpellier
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Touch judges: Gilbert Darrieutort, Jean-Christophe Clot
Assessor: Francis Bourgade, Marc Desclaux
Television match official: Vincent Azoulay
Bayonne vs Montauban
Referee: Eric Gauzins
Touch judges: Olivier Migne, Patrick Bellet
Assessor: Pascal
Bouchet, Roger Duhau
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier
Biarritz vs Castres
Referee: Patrick Pechambert
Touch judges: Jacques Laplace, Frédéric Ducatez
Assessor: Daniel Pascal, Joël Dumé
Television match official: Daniel Dartigeas
Bourgoin vs Perpignan
Referee: Eric Darrière
Touch judges: Didier Dussaut, Eric Briquet Campin
Assessor: Philippe De Miranda, Serge Marzullo
Television match official: Gérard Borreani
Toulon vs Brive
Referee: Didier Mene
Touch judges: Jean-Claude Bes, Alain Moretto
Assessor: Jean-Claude Legendre, Patrick Thomas
Television match official: Daniel Irazoqui
Stade Français vs Mont-de-Marsan
Referee: Bruno Bessot
Touch judges: Régis Gabard, Alain Rongier
Assessor: Patrick Costa, Marc Daroque
Television match official: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat
Toulouse vs Dax
Referee: Philippe Bonhoure
Touch judges: Claude Tajan, Fernand Pereira
Assessor: Michel Izquierdo, Alain Fernandez
Television match official: Daniel Gillet
