The Top 14 gives way to the Champion’s cup this weekend. The opportunity for several committed tricolor clubs to continue their dynamic like La Rochelle and Toulouse while others will have the opportunity to relaunch. This is the case of Clermont, shaken by various internal tumults in recent weeks. Back to the wall, Racing must imperatively win, Montpellier is aiming for revenge against the Ospreys and Bordeaux-Bègles has an appointment in South Africa. Overview of the forces involved.
Clermont on a ventilator
The last few weeks have been stifling on the Auvergne side, between the announced departure of executive players including international winger Damian Penaud, insults and threats from the stands of Michelin, the resignation of three-quarter coach Xavier Sadourny and uneven results.
But the victory against Perpignan (31-20) in the Top 14 was a real breath of fresh air for ASM. The Clermontois (8th, 5 pts) breathe better and await the English of Leicester (3rd, 8 pts) firmly. “It’s a competition that has always been close to our hearts. After mentally difficult weeks, we are all happy to return to the European Cup and ready to give everything against Leicester,” promised center Samuel Ezeala. . “We have to play it hard. We won’t let anyone come here without us fighting to defend our stadium.”
La Rochelle aims for the pass of three
Fallouts of Northampton (46-12) then Ulster (36-29), the Rochelais assume their status as defending champions. The arrival of the Irish province in Marcel-Deflandre, where the maritime club remains on a demonstration in front of Toulouse (30-7) in the league, is timely. A new success against Ulster would allow the teammates of Antoine Hastoy (42 points), the competition’s top scorer, to consolidate their place (1st, 9 pts). Even without internationals Uini Atonio and Pierre Bourgarit, injured.
Toulouse eagerly awaited
Upset by the slap received by his team in December (45-19) at the end of an orgy of play under a beautiful sun, the coach of Sale Alex Sanderson had immediately made an appointment with Toulouse: “I can’t wait to face them again in Manchester on a cold and rainy afternoon.”
The five-time European champions, off to a good start in the competition with two successes in two matches (2nd, 9 pts), have been warned: after the tense end of the first leg, during which Thomas Ramos had been excluded following of a collision, they will be expected firmly on Saturday in England, in less favorable weather conditions.
“We will be on hostile ground there, but I think we have the weapons to respond to it,” said scrum-half and Toulouse captain Antoine Dupont. “To achieve the objectives that are ours, we must be able to play in several ways”. The Sharks, second in the English championship, will find some teeth with international center Manu Tuilagi, a “weapon of mass destruction”, according to Red and Black coach Ugo Mola.
Racing 92 no longer has a choice
Outclassed by the Irish from Leinster (42-10), dominated by the English from Harlequins (14-10), Racing 92 finds itself with its back to the wall before the 3rd day of the Champions Cup, the proclaimed objective of Ciel et Blanc. Business seems to be off to a bad start for the Ile-de-France club, which also remains on five matches without a win. To finish in the sixteen teams that will play the final phase, the men of Laurent Travers must win their next two matches, including the first, at home, against Harlequins. With the bonus. Impossible mission ?
Montpellier (9th, 5 pts), reigning French champion, will seek revenge in Wales against the Ospreys (7th, 5 pts), while Lyon (10th, 2 pts) will try to raise their heads on the field Saracens (3rd, 9 pts). Bordeaux-Bègles (9th, 2 pts) will go to South Africa to seek their first victory on the ground of the Sharks before Castres, which clearly gives priority to the Top 14, receives Edinburgh on Sunday.
Clermont on a ventilator