Twelfth in the Top 14, LOU (16 pts) reassured itself by securing an improved victory and a double bonus in the Champions Cup, but will have its work cut out for it on the road against Bordeaux-Bègles (7th, 23 pts) and its offensive armada , author of 12 tries in her last two matches at Chaban-Delmas.
UBB, still in the running in the championship, took advantage of two Champions Cup matches to reassure itself, particularly on its offensive capabilities, with 77 points scored. Undefeated at home this season, the Bordelais will try to stay in contact with the Top 6 in order to achieve a fifth consecutive victory in all competitions and continue this dynamic before traveling to Clermont.
Bounce quests in Jean-Bouin
Stade Français (5th, 27 pts) and La Rochelle (9th, 20 pts) remain on a victory in the Top 14. But the interlude in the Champions Cup was much less glorious for the two teams, who lost twice and occupy the last two places in group 4.
So the rebound will be imperative so as not to spend Christmas feeling down. Parisian coach Karim Ghezal displays complete confidence in the resources, particularly physical, of his group: “We played a match with 43 minutes of effective playing time against Leicester, it’s huge. I think today our players in the rotation are physically fresh to play a big match against La Rochelle. »
The Rochelais must also quickly bounce back in the championship, before the need for results is felt and the leading car slips too far away.
Impregnable Pau in the Hamlet?
After a lackluster entry into the Challenge Cup (1 victory, 1 defeat), the Pau Section (4th, 27 pts) returns to the Top 14, where it has shone since the start of the season, with the reception of Clermont ( 8th, 23 pts).
Faced with the Auvergnats who had shown a good face to Ernest-Wallon against Stade Toulousain, the Palois will try to preserve their invincibility at the Hameau this season.
They will still have to do without double world champion Sam Whitelock. Expected for his first in Béarn this weekend, the second row with 153 caps with the All Blacks suffered a concussion in training last week.
Bayonne wants to regain success
If the beginners were not unworthy for their debut in the Champions Cup, the Bayonnais (10th, 19 pts) did not impose themselves and even lost for the first time at home since the return to the Top 14 in 2022 (11- 12 against Glasgow).
In Top 14, the chorus is always the same. Bayonne wins at home and loses away. But after an exploit on the lawn of Munster (17-17), all hopes are high for the Bayonnais on the lawn of Perpignan, painful 13th in the championship, which remains on two slaps received in Bordeaux and La Rochelle.
After correcting Montpellier at the beginning of December, a success against another poorly ranked team, but above all far from Jean-Dauger, is almost imperative for Aviron to remain in the race for the Top 6 and European places, but above all to confirm that the team is at the level of its ambitions.
Other meetings: clash between Toulon and Toulouse
The Toulouse and Toulouse dynamics were reversed during the European window. After having had four successes in the league, Toulon (2nd, 28 pts) lost their first two Champions Cup matches, a little of their confidence and their scrum half Baptiste Serin, injured in a shoulder. On alternating current since the end of the World Cup, the reigning French champion (6th, 23 pts) has regained his splendor by piling up almost 100 points against Cardiff (52-7) and Harlequins (47 -19).
“We must not take ourselves for others either. The Top 14 and the European Cup are two completely different things,” Toulouse center Sofiane Guitoune warns AFP. “In any case, we are keen to play a big match at the Stadium before the holidays with our families”
Swept into Ulster last week, Racing 92 (1st, 29 pts) will have to rediscover the recipe that allowed it to climb to the top of the Top 14 to stay there against Oyonnax (11th, 16 pts).
2023-12-22 13:30:04
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