Preview: Top 14, Round Three
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:33
France's Top 14 is in only its second week but already it is rushing at Round 3 with big matches in Perpignan and Toulouse.
Toulouse have not had a good start to the season, losing away to Montpellier and then making heavy weather of beating lowly Dax at home. Biarritz have won both of their matches and include a win over Castres who finished strongly at the end of last season, not a good one for Biarritz whose expectations are always high. Toulouse have home-=ground advantage.
Perpignan are also at home as the Catalans lie in wait for elegant Stade Français. Both sides have won both of their matches, but Perpignan are at home, and Stade Aimé-Giral is a hard place to win at.
In fact it is an intriguing weekend with Clermont down to the "other" Basques, who have won both of their matches so far while Auvergnats lost to Toulon on the opening day.
There will again be a big interest in Toulon. They beat Clermont on the opening day and then played a drab draw with Brive in Round 2, both home matches and this time they are away.
The fixtures for Round 3, home teams first.
Friday, 5 September
20.30: Bayonne vs Clermont Auvergne
Saturday, 6 September
14.30: Brive vs Castres
14.30: Dax vs Montpellier
14.30: Montauban vs Bourgoin
14.30: Perpignan vs Stade Français
14.30: Mont-de-Marsan vs Toulon
Sunday, 7 September
14.30: Toulouse vs Biarritz
Log after Round 2
1. Stade Français 9
2. Biarritz 8
3. Bayonne 8
4. Clermont Auvergne 6
5. Montauban 6
6. Toulon 6
7. Toulouse 5
8. Perpignan 4
9. Montpellier 4
10. Brive 2
11. Bourgoin 1
12. Castres 1
13. Mont-de-Marsan 1
14. Dax
1
Predictions: Bayonne will have just enough to beat Clermont Friday, Castres, Toulon and Montpellier will win away from home while Montauban, Perpignan and Toulouse will win at home.
Teams:
We shall publish as we get them. Last weekend two clubs sent us teams after we asked for them. They could again send to pauld@365digital.co.za.
Bayonne: 15 Julien Peyras-Loustalet, 14 Benjamin Lhande, 13 Sam Gerber, 12 Craig Gower, 11 Filimone Bolavucu, 10 Manny Edmonds, 9 Cédric Garcia, 8 Julien Puricelli, 7 Rémy Martin (captain), 6 Guillaume Bernad, 5 Mikaera Tewhata, 4 Rob Linde, 3 Rodney Blake, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Pierre-Philippe Lafond
Replacements: 16 Matias Cortese, 17 Avril, 18 Aretz Iguiniz, 19 Nicolas Lafitte, 20 Marc Baget, 21 Johnny Howard, 22 Ben Fall, 23 Mathieu
Maillard
Biarritz: 15 Nicolas Brusque, 14 Jean-Baptists Gobelet, 13 Romain Cabannes, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Ilikena Bolakoro, 10 Vincent Courrent, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Jean-Baptiste Roidot, 4 Jérôme Thion (captain), 3 Benoît Lecouls, 2 Benoît Denoyelle, 3 Fabien Barcella
Replacements: 16 Benoît August, 17 Benoît Bourrust, 18 Cesar Damiani, 19 Peio Som, 20 Andrea Masi, 21 Philippe Bidabé, 22 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 23 Eduard Coetzee.
Bourgoin squad: Arnaud Tchougong, Pascal Peyron, Karena Wihongi, Wessel Roux, Vincent Pelo, Jordan Merle, Tone Kopelani, Williams, Camille Levast, Damien Fèvre, Julien Frier, Sylvain Nicolas, Bogdan Leonte, Thomas Genevois, Yann Labrit, Morgan Parra, Gondrand, Sébastien Laloo, Matias Viazzo, David Janin, Yann David, Rudi Coetzee, Jean-François Coux, Matthieu Nicolas, Florian Denos
Brive: 15 Alexis Palisson, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 12 Lachlan McKay, 11 Norman Ligairi, 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
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Anthony Floch, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Marius Joubert, 12 S Baï, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 John Senio, 8 Elvis Vermeulen (captain), 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Christophe Samson, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Mario Ledesma Arocena, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli
Replacements: 16 Mirko Lozupone, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Lois Jacquet, 19 Alexandre Audebert, 20 Pierre Mignoni, 21 Pierre Manuel Garcia, 22 Arnaud Mignardi, 23 Simms Davison
Dax: 15 David Bortolussi, 14 Neumi Nanuku,
13 Federico Martin Aramburu, 12 Gavin Williams, 11 Lucas Borges, 10 Nicolas Vergallo, 9 Maxime Petitjean, 8 Joel Koffi, 7Jannie Bornman, 6 Mathieu Lièvremont (captain), 5 Mickaël Bert, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Renaud Boyoud, 2 William Bonet, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Nicolas Decamps, 17 Jimmy Jaen, 18 Mattin Auzqui, 19 Cédric Guironnet, 20 Vincent Deniau, 21 Laurent Diaz, 22 Antoine Vignau-Tuquet, 23 Duncan Bell, 24 Bruno Hiriart
Montpellier: 15 Mark McHugh, 14 Thomas Brana, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Grant Rees, 11 Olivier Sarramea, 10 Federico Todeschini, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Johan Wasserman, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Michel Macurdy, 4 Gonçalo Uva, 3 Danie Thiart, 2 Joan Caudullo, 1 Pietman van Niekerk.
Replacements; 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Drikus Hancke, 19 Vassili Bost, 20 Justin Marshall, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Sylvain Mirande, 23 Bruce
Douglas
Perpignan: 15 Philip Burger, 14 Christophe Manas, 13 Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 12 Gavin Hume, 11 Adrien Planté, 10 Steve Meyer, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Jean-Pierre Pérez, 7 Henry Tuilagi, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Gerrie Britz, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Nicolas Mas (captain), 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Guillaume Vilaceca, 19 Viliani Vaki, 20 Nicolas Laharrague, 21 Nicolas Durand, 22 David Marty, 23 Jerome Schuster
Stade Français: 15 Lionel Beauxis, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Brian Liebenberg, 11 Dave Vainqueur, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Noel Oelschig, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Pierre Rabadan, 6 Sergio Parisse (captain), 5 Simon Taylor, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempere, 17 Pierre Correia, 18 Pierre Vigouroux, 19
Mauro Bergamasco, 20 David Albouy, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Carl Pautric, 23 Franck Montanella
Toulon: 15 Sonny Falconetti, 14 Clément Imbert, 13 Mafileo Kefu, 12 Tusi Pisi, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Matt Henjak, 8 Jerry Collins, 7 Thomas Sourice, 6 Olivier Missoup, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 David Banquet, 2 Philip Fitzgerald, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Ribes, 17 Ben Castle, 18 Santiago Dellapè, 19 Fotunuupule Auelua, 20 Damien Vidal, 21 Sébastien Fauqué, 22 Norman Jordaan, 23 Mathieu Larrouy.
Match officials
Toulouse vs Biarritz
Referee: Franck Maciello
Touch judges: Hervé Gilard, Eric Briquet Campin
Assessor: Jean-Claude Legendre, Michel Forget, Patrick Robin
Television match official: Gérard Borreani
Brive vs Castres
Referee: Christophe Berdos
Touch judges: Patrick Bellet,
Olivier Migne
Assessor: Michel Kazmierczak, Alain Fernandez
Television match official: Serge Marzullo
Mont-de-Marsan vs Toulon
Referee: Bernard Dal Maso
Touch judges: Patrick Dellac, Didier Morin
Assessor: Pascal Panel, Joël Dumé
Television match official: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat
Perpignan vs Stade Français
Referee: Romain Poite
Touch judges: Jean-Paul Vermande, Jacques Laplace
Assessor: Michel Ricciardelli, Bernard Perez
Television match official: Jean-Christophe Gastou
Dax vs Montpellier
Referee: Jean-Luc Rebollal
Touch judges: Denis Grenouillet, Régis Gabard
Assessor: Michel Roger, Michel Debet
Television match official: Daniel Gillet
Montauban vs Bourgoin
Referee: Akim Hadj Bachir
Touch judges: Alain Moretto, Gilbert Darrieutort
Assessor: Yves Peyrelongue, Michel Messan
Television match official:
Vincent Azoulay
Bayonne vs Clermont Ferrand
Referee: Jean-Pierre Matheu
Touch judges: Fernand Pereira, Frédéric Ducatez
Assessor: Jean-Marie Peyramaure, Michel Lamoulie
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier
