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Brive go into this Semi Final having finished 2nd in the Pro D2 rankings, but ended the season with a heavy defeat to Béziers. With discipline looking to be a issue for Maxime Sidobre receiving 2 yellows only 14 minutes apart turning into a Red. Brive finished the league 4 points behind Grenoble with 20 wins, where as, Montauban managed to take 6th spot on the same points as Béziers but with more wins.
Montauban set up a play off against 3rd place Colomiers last week. Montauban found themselves 17 -0 behind after 16 minutes, but the Montauban dog came out to pull them back into the tie! They found themselves back infront 17 - 18 in the 42nd minute. A tight affair ended with a 79th minute drop goal for Montauban while the score was 23 -23. A 23 -26 victory to the 6th placed team tees them up to take on big hitters Brive at the Municipal Stadium under Friday night lights!
Brive go into this tie with a formidable back row of Ross Moriarty, Courtney Lawes and Tanela Sadrugu looking to cause mayhem at the breakdown and carrying. U20s World Championship winning scrum half Mathis Ferté will be looking to control the game for Brive with Georgian Georges Shvelidze looking to carry hard from inside centre putting the Montauban defense to the test.
With a less star studded line up, Montauban have gone about their business very well this term in the Pro D2. They will be looking for captain Fred Quercy to lead from the front while playing 6 today, and Sikhumbuzo Notshe at 8 will want to front up against the Brive back row competition. Fijian speedster Josua Vici will be looking to find any space possible to get Montauban tries on the board. With the likes of Lucio Sordoni to come off the bench and add some impact in the front row. They will definitely be looking to keep that dog they carried on from last week and grind out another result!
You can watch the game Live in the UK and Ireland on FR UK over on YouTube using the link below: