Preview: Top 14, Round 13

This week marks the end of the first round of Top 14 matches - the half-way mark in the league portion of the tough competition.

Things are getting increasingly serious.

From Montpellier up, there is the powerful desire to get, at least, in the top six for the play-offs. For the six below Montpellier there is the fear of relegation and the long drop to Pro D2.

There should be close encounters in Brive, Perpignan where the home side are desperate to get away from the relegation zone, Montpellier may give Toulouse a run for their money but then Stade are likely to want to make up for their embarrassing home defeat by Harlequins and it will be interesting to see if Bayonne can emerge stronger from their management upheaval - as Perpignan have not yet been able to do.

Glamorous Biarritz's gloom is likely to deepen as Stade Français have rather picked up the pace of late.

Fixtures, Round 13:

The matches are all on Friday, December 23.

19.00: Brive vs Clermont
19.30: Stade Français vs Biarritz
19.30: Perpignan vs Bordeaux
19.30: Toulon vs Lyon
19.30: Bayonne vs Castres
20.30: Racing-Métro vs Agen
21.00: Montpellier vs Toulouse

Log after Round 12:

Lyon and Bordeaux each have a match in hand.

1 Toulouse 43
2 Clermont 40
3 Toulon 35
4 Castres 33
5 Agen 32
6 Stade Français 30
7 Racing-Métro 30
8 Montpellier 27
9 Brive 22
10 Bordeaux 21
11 Bayonne 20
12 Perpignan 20
13 Lyon 17
14 Biarritz 15

Predictions: In theory they are easy to pick but then Clermont has many injuries, Montpellier has recouped and there is unhappiness in Agen. Still we chose victories for Brive, Stade Français, Perpignan, Toulon, Castres, Racing-Métro and Toulouse.

The teams:

Joe van Niekerk is back from injury and in the Toulon squad. Simon Shaw, after his argument with Wasps, is in the squad for the first time but scrumhalf Sébastien Tillous-Borde is out because of a neck injury.

Clermont is missing several for the Brive match - centre Wesley Fofana, hooker Benjamin Kayser, fullback Kini Murimurivalu, scrumhalf Ludovic Radosavljevic, wing Sitiveni Sivivatu, lock Jason White, prop Davit Zirakashvili, centre Gonzalo Canale, prop Domingo and fullback Floch. Aurélien Rougerie and scrumhalf Morgan Parra are uncertain.

Bordeaux have several back who missed the Rovigo match - Justin Purll, Gerard Fraser, Bruce Reihana, Dan Leo, Cameron Treloar and Olé Avei but hooker Boris Béthery, flank Charly Ternisien and props Bees Roux and Nicolas Décamps are out.

For Racing Henry Chavancy is doubtful and Bernard le Roux, Julien Saubade, Fabrice Estebanez and Benjamin Fall are out but back come lots of power - Andrea Lo Cicero, locks Lionel Nallet and François van der Merwe, loose forwards Jacques Cronjé and Antoine Battut, scrumhalf Mathieu Lorée and wing Sireli Bobo.

Bayonne on the other hand are getting men back - Neemia Tialata, Sione Lauaki, Mike Phillips, Joe Rokocoko and Céderic Heymans.

Montpellier's captain, Fulgence Ouedraogo, is out with a rib injury, replaced by Rémy Martin.

Agen: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Junior Palesasa, 12 Jamie Robinson, 11 Belisario Agulla, 10 Valentin Courrent, 9 Sylvain Dupuy, 8 Ueleni Fono, 7 Adri Badenhorst, 6 Antoine Erbani, 5 Patrick O'Connor, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Julien Janaudy 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Jalil Narjissi, 17 Semisi Telefoni, 18 Damien Lagrange, 19 Pierre Julien, 20 Maxime Machenaud, 21 Conrad Barnard, 22 Miguel Avramovic, 23 Beka Sheklashvili.

Bayonne: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Marvin O'Connor, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Sam Gerber, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Julien Puricelli, 6 Jean Joseph Marmouyet, 5 Abdellatif Boutaty, 4 Rob Linde (captain), 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Aretz Iguiniz.
Replacements: 16 François Da Ros, 17 Vitolio Manukula, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Marc Baget, 20 Cédric Garcia, 21 Lionel Mazars, 22 Clément Otazo, 23 Renaud Boyoud.

Biarritz: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Iain Balshaw, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Luix Roussarie, 8 Raphaël Lakafia, 7 Pelu Taele, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Jerome Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Benoît August, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements: 16 Arnaud Heguy, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Florian Faure, 19 Benoît Guyot, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Charles Gimenez, 23 Thomas Lebrequier.

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Vungakoto Lilo, 13 Andrew Mailei, 12 Julien Rey, 11 Blair Connor, 10 Gerard Fraser, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Daniel Leo'o, 6 Justin Purll, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Cameron Treloar, 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Wayne Avei, 1 Laurent Delboulbes.
Replacements: 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 Hikairo Forbes, 18 François Tisseau, 19 Leroy Houston, 20 Julien Seron, 21 Camille Lopez, 22 Felix Le Bourhis, 23 Albert Toetu.

Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Jacques Boussuge, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Ronnie Cooke, 10 Riaan Swanepoel, 9 Mathieu Belie, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Alexandre Bias, 6 Petrus Hauman, 5 Arnaud Méla, 4 Thibault Dubarry, 3 Patrick Barnard, 2 Iuri Natriashvili, 1 Vasil Kakovin.
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Davit Kinchagishvili, 18 Retief Uys, 19 Julien Ledevedec, 20 Simon Azoulai, 21 Jean Baptiste Pejoine, 22 Julien Caminati, 23 Pablo Cardinali.

Castres: 15 Romain Teulet 14 Romain Martial, 13 Thomas Sanchou, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Maxwell Evans, 10 Seremaia Bai, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Yannick Caballero, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Karena Wihongi, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Anton Peikrishvili.
Replacements: 16 Marc Rallier, 17 Michael Coetzee, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Steve Malonga, 20 Thierry Lacrampe, 21 Pierre Bernard, 22 Paul Bonnefond, 23 Luc Ducalcon.

Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Regan King, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Brock James, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Alexandre Audebert, 6 Alexandre Lapandry, 5 Loïc Jacquet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benoît Cabello, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Jamie Cudmore, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Williams, 22 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 23 Daniel Kotze.

Lyon: 15 Romain Loursac, 14 Franck Romanet, 13 Latu Fatafehi, 12 Waisale Seru Sukanaveita, 11 Mosese Ratuvou, 10 Régis Lespinas, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Sisaro Koyamaibole, 7 Juan Leguizamón, 6 Eugene N Zi, 5 Coenie Basson, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Philemon Toleafoa, 2 Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux, 1 Xavier Fiard.
Replacements: 16 Antonio Testa, 17 Guram Kavtidze, 18 Arnaud Dorier, 19 Nicolas Bontinck, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Lee Thomas, 22 Xavier Sadourny, 23 Anthony Roux.

Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Martin Bustos Moyano, 10 François Trinh-Duc (captain), 9 Benoît Paillaugue, 8 Masi Matadigo, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Rémy Martin, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Mickaël De Marco, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Rassie Jansen van Vuuren, 17 Mikheil Natriashvili, 18 Drikus Hancke, 19 Vassili Bost, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Paul Bosch, 22 Yoan Audrin, 23 George Jgenti.

Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Farid Sid, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Rudi Coetzee, 10 James Hook, 9 Kevin Boulogne, 8 Henri Tuilagi, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Gregory Le Corvec, 5 Robins Tchale Watchou, 4 Olivier Olibeau, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Kisi Pulu.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jérôme Schuster, 18 Ovidiu Tonita, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Bertrand Guiry, 21 Florian Cazenave, 22 Gavin Hume, 23 Benoît Bourrust.

Racing-Métro: 15 Juan Martín Hernández, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Joshua Matavesi, 11 Juan José Imhoff, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Álvaro Galindo, 6 Rémi Vaquin, 5 Lionel Nallet (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 2 Benjamin Noirot, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Jacques Cronjé, 20 Mathieu Lorée, 21 Gaëtan Germain, 22 Antoine Battut, 23 Mikaele Tu'ugahala.

Stade Français: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Pierre Rabadan, 6 David Lyons, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Gerhard Mostert, 3 David Attoub, 2 Aled De Malmanche, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempéré, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Antoine Burban, 20 Jérôme Fillol, 21 Jules Plisson, 22 Francis Fainifo, 23 Stanley Wright.

Toulon: 15 Luke Rooney, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matthew Giteau, 11 David Smith, 10 Jonathan Wilkinson, 9 Mathew Henjak, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Pierrick Gunther, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Kristian Chesney, 19 Joe van Niekerk, 20 Gabriele Lovobalavu, 21 Benjamin Lapeyre, 22 Laurent Magnaval, 23 Davit Kubriashvili.

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Romain Millo Chlusky, 4 Gregory Lamboley, 3 Yohan Montes, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Daan Human.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Yassin Boutemane, 18 Yoann Maestri, 19 Thierry Dusautoir, 20 Jean Marc Doussain, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Jean Bouilhou, 23 Census Johnston.

Match officials:

Brive vs Clermont at Stade Amédée Domenech
Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: Stéphane Pomarède, Christophe Malterre
Television match official: Daniel Irazoqui
 
Stade Français vs Biarritz at Stade Charlety (Paris)
Referee: Christophe Berdos
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon, David Parrini
Television match official: Laurent Valin
 
Perpignan vs Bordeaux at Stade Aimé Giral
Referee: Patrick Pechambert
Assistant referees: Alain Blondel, Laurent Sclafer
Television match official: Gilles Cogne
 
Toulon vs Lyon at Stade Mayol
Referee: Sébastien Minery
Assistant referees: Alexandre Ruiz, Philippe Gorbenko
Television match official: Philippe Bonhoure
 
Bayonne vs Castres at Stade Jean Dauger
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: David Rosich, Jean-Michel Schutz
Television match official: Hervé Dubes
 
Racing-Métro vs Agen at Stade Yves du Manoir (Colombes)
Referee: Jean-Luc Rebollal
Assistant referees: Salem Attalah, Christophe Graviou
Television match official: Daniel Gillet
 
Montpellier vs Toulouse at Stade Yves du Manoir (Montpellier)
Referee: Jérôme Garces
Assistant referees: Akim Hadj Bachir, Patrick Beuriot
Television match official: Eric Gonthier