Three huge French matches
Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:09
In France this weekend, there are the semifinals of the Top 14 and the final match to decide who will accompany Toulon from Pro D2 to Top 14.
In Limoges Racing Métro of Paris plays Mont-de-Marsan to decide promotion to the Top 14. In Marseilles Clermont Auvergne, who ended top of Top 14, play Perpignan, who ended fourth and in Bordeaux Toulouse play Stade Français.
All three of these matches will be played on neutral ground.
When these teams met each other in the league part of their competitions, the home teams won each time.
Racing Métro vs Mont-de-Marsan: Racing won 23-22 in Paris; Mont-de-Marsan won 22-11 in Mont-de-Marsan.
Clermont Auvergne vs Perpignan: Clermont won 29-15 in Montferrand; Perpignan's won 18-17 in Perpignan
Toulouse vs Stade Français: Toulouse won 28-9 in Toulouse; Stade Français won 29-0 at Stade de France.
History and position no longer count as these matches are one-offs on neutral ground. Picking a winner is so hard.
Of the six teams involved Perpignan probably had the best finish. They started in wobbly fashion but then came good and surged up the ladder, ending with a home victory over Stade Français.
Clermont-Auvergne were probably steadiest throughout as Toulouse battled to cope with Top 14 and their Heineken Cup promise and disappointment.
In the end, Clermont lost six matches, Toulouse and Perpignan seven each and Stade Français eight.
In Pro D2 Racing ended much the stronger - 10 league points above Stade Montois with a points difference in their favour of 257 points against Mont-de-Marsan's 94 but they won only two more matches. Their advantage came by way of bonus points.
Prediction: Madness helps in doing something like this and so, without any confidence, we predict wins for Perpignan, Stade Français and Racing-Mètro.
Teams
Clermont Auvergne squad: Laurent Emmanuelli, Domingo, Davit Zirakashvili, Mario Ledesma, John Smit, Jamie Cudmore, Christophe Samson, Thibault Privat, Loic Jacquet, Alexandre Audebert, Julien Bonnaire, Elvis Vermeulen, Sam Broomhall, Pierre Mignoni, John Senio, Brock James, Seremaia Baï, Gonzalo Canale, Marius Joubert, Napolioni Nalaga, Benoît Baby, Julien Malzieu, Aurélien Rougerie, Anthony Floch.
Mont-de-Marsan: 15 Florent Cazeaux, 14 Jean-Marc Mazzoneto, 13 Yannick Lafforgue, 12 Alban Genthieu, 11 Damien Cler, 10 Benoît Arrayet, 9 Lionel Dutilh, 8 Jérôme Dhien, 7 Marc Giraud, 6 Julien Tastet, 5 Jocelino Suta, 4 Jeandré Mynhardt, 3 Sébastien Ormaechea, 2 Laurent Dehez, 1 Nicolas Etcheverry.
Replacements: 16 Romain Lauga, 17 Pieter Grobler, 18 Laurent Travini, 19 Guillaume Leleu, 20
Jérôme Carré, 21 Baptiste Chedal Bornu, 22 Irakli Machkhaneli
Perpignan squad: Nicolas Mas, Perry Freshwater, Sébastien Chobet, Kisi Pulu, Marius Tincu, Guillem Guirado, Michael Ladhuie, Christophe Porcu, Nathan Hines, Rimas Alvarez-Kairélis, Guillaume Vilaceca, Damien Chouly, Henry Tuilagi, Gerrie Britz, Viliani Vaki, Nicolas Durand, David Mélé, Nicolas Laharrague, Cédric Rosalen, Gavin Hume, Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, David Marty, Adrien Planté, Christophe Manas, Julien Candelon, Jérôme Porical, Percy Montgomery
Stade Français squad: Mathieu Blin, Dimitri Szarzewski, David Attoub, Rodrigo Roncero, Franck Montanella, Sylvain Marconnet (captain), Arnaud Marchois, Boela du Plooy, Cliffie Milton, Pierre Rabadan, Mauro Bergamasco, Rémy Martin, Antoine Burban, Simon Taylor, Sergio Parisse, Jérôme Fillol, Alexandre Albouy, Juan
Martín Hernández, Lionel Beauxis, Guillaume Bousses, Stéphane Glas, Mirco Bergamasco, Christophe Dominici, Julien Saubade, Ignacio Corleto
Match Officials
Top 14 Semifinals
Clermont Auvergne vs Perpignan
Referee: Christophe Berdos
Touch judges: David Rosich, Bruno Bessot
Assessor: Hubert Dubes, Claude Rouve, Yves Bressy
Television match official: Daniel Dartigeas
Toulouse vs Stade Français
Referee: Franck Maciello
Touch judges: Jean-Christophe Gastou, Akim Hadj Bachir
Assessor: Roger Chiocchia, Daniel Pascal, Alain Fernandez
Television match official: Gérard Borreani
Pro D2 "Final"
Racing-Métro 92 vs Mont-de-Marsan
Referee: Didier Mene
Touch judges: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat, Cédric Marchat
Assessor: Christian Cortey, Jean-Marie Peyramaure, Francis Palmade
Television match
official: Serge Marzullo
