Last straight line: from the Stade Français to Clermont, eight teams are in the balance to clinch a place in the top six synonymous with the final stages, behind the leaders Toulouse and La Rochelle, five days before the end of the regular Top 14 season.
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Racing, star of the North
Back to the wall, Racing 92 (7th, 51 points) is counting on its “reception” of UBB in Lens to settle in the top six. The Sky and White should count on the returns of Gaël Fickou, Camille Chat or Cameron Woki to get this ticket for the final phase. The Ile-de-France club has not missed qualification since 2009.
On the Girondin side (5th, 53 pts), we will want to raise our heads three weeks after the disappointment in front of La Rochelle (36-6) and stay in the race. Especially since the teammates of Mathieu Jalibert remain on three successes in a row on the lands of Racing. The pass of four in the North?
Montpellier-Castres, revenge
We meet once again. Montpellier (9th, 48 pts) receives Castres (11th, 40 pts), remake of the last final of the Top 14. Less than a year later, the Héraultais want to believe in their chances of qualification. “We are focused on the end of the season in the Top 14. We have to get in position to finish in the top six. We have a few matches left, we are going in the right direction, ”said the All Black of MHR George Bridge. “I have the feeling that we are better and that we are making progress. We really want to finish in the six. »
Relaunched after two straight wins in the league, Philippe Saint-André’s men will intend to confirm in front of the CO, still looking for their first away success of the season.
La Rochelle, force seven
Back to normal. A week after having brilliantly ensured its qualification for the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, La Rochelle (2nd, 61 pts) faces a new mountain with the reception of Bayonne (8th, 50 pts). Ronan O’Gara’s men receive Rowing without Grégory Alldritt, on vacation, or Will Skelton, resting. The opportunity for the linings to show themselves by chaining a seventh consecutive success, in all competitions.
The ambitious Basques know it: if they want to continue their epic and become the first promoted to qualify for the final phase since Racing 92 in 2009, the Bayonnais must win away, which they have not more done since November and a trip to Clermont (25-20). A victory at Deflandre, at the European champion, would allow the machine to restart, seized up after the defeat against Pau, the first at home of the season.
Toulouse, the big Lyon test
“Focus quickly on the Top 14”. Hardly the victory against the South African Sharks swallowed, Toulouse (1st, 67 pts) and Ugo Mola turned to the championship and a complicated block against two direct competitors. The Haut-Garonne club, broad leader, has not yet secured its direct place for the semi-finals.
Before the French Stadium, the Red and Blacks therefore challenge Lyon (4th, 55 pts), freshly eliminated in the Challenge. But Lou is counting on the Top 14 to assert its ambitions: Xavier Garbajosa’s men have beaten Toulouse five times in their last six meetings.
In the other matches of the day, Perpignan (13th, 35 pts) will count on the return of its captain Mathieu Acebes, suspended nine matches at the end of December, to bring down Toulon (6th, 52 pts) and save his skin in Top 14. Still at the bottom of the table, Pau (12th, 37 pts) and Brive (14th, 26 pts) receive Clermont (10th, 45 pts) and Stade Français (3 in 56 pts). Woe to the vanquished.
