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Team announcements for the Top 14 on a Friday evening signal the end of the working week and the start of a weekend of rugby gluttony. Top 14 clubs have long seasons and large squads to help them deal with that. Every club in the league must - and does - rotate and juggle its players, but when they decide to rest the big names and when to go hammer and tongs is a game of chess in itself. So welcome to this week’s guide to which teams are going for it and which teams have possibly already thrown in the towel…
With France’s Autumn Nations Series kicking off with a bang next week against South Africa, Round 9 will be deprived of 23 players held back by Fabien Galthié to protect them from the rigours of domestic rugby (those in blue in the tweet below). Round 9 is therefore the first of the ‘doublons’ - literally ‘duplicates’, the term used for fixture rounds that clash with international fixtures. These are important rounds: how teams perform in the doublons tend to have a disproportionate impact on final league positions.
Toulon v Lyon - 1.30pm GMT, Premier Sports Rugby (Streaming only)
This weekend is technically not an international window, so while many teams will be disrupted by Galthié’s France squad, other internationals are still available for Top 14 action - and you can bet that clubs will get their pound of flesh from them this week!
Toulon are a good example, and have gone full noise with Paolo Garbisi and Juan Ignacio Brex starting in a fearsome backline. Baptiste Serin returns from a rib injury, while evergreen Ma’a Nonu makes his first start of the season. Talismanic leader David Ribbans returns to what looks like the best pack Toulon have available to them.
Lyon, by comparison, look understrength with only a handful of first choice names; of all the team selections this weekend, this looks to be the most below par. The astonishing Jiuta Wainiqolo understandably steals the headlines in a frighteningly quick back three, but an interesting match up is the two young full backs. Gabin Lorre and Mathis Ferté were two of the standout players in Pro D2 last season (for Béziers and Brive respectively), and both are capable of magic.
Pau v Perpignan - 3.35pm GMT
Pointless and bottom of the pile, USAP travel along the Pyrénées under the stewardship of interim coach Mathieu Cidre having departed with Head Coach Franck Azema during the week. Laurent Labit (who has a very impressive CV) is rumoured to be coming in as head man, with Joe Worsley his new defence coach. For the meantime, Cidre will be thankful that internationals are still available, with Tommaso Allan the only fit and available senior fly half option. USAP have based their game plan around his goal kicking and the ball carrying of Argentina’s Joaquin Oviedo for the past two seasons. In other positive news, Posolo Tuilagi makes his first start of the season in a second row with a combined age younger than Ma’a Nonu.
Understandably given Pau had one of the stronger representations in France’s 42-man training squad, they do not quite look at full strength themselves. The impact of Hugo Auradou’s absence (retained by Galthié) cannot be overstated, while none of the other five players that trained with France are included in the starting line up. The Section Paloise squad does seem deeper this season and many of the starters would have been first choice last season. They also have the edge in the replacements, not only returning France squad members Jimi Maximin and Émilien Gailleton, but Argentinians Facundo Isa and Julian Montoya.
Castres v Union Bordeaux Bègles - 3.35pm GMT, Premier Sports Rugby (Streaming only)
Castres were one of the few sides that looked understrength last week, and accordingly this week they look at absolute full strength, eyeing a scalp against a UBB side heavily impacted by the loss of some huge stars who will be lining up against the Boks in Paris next week
Pierre Popelin returns from injury at fly half and Enzo Hervé, impressive since coming in as a medical joker, takes his place on a formidable looking bench. Tom Staniforth starts on his return from a ban, and there are few players in the Top 14 that have as much impact on games as the man with the outrageous mullet.
UBB aren’t helped by the injury to Mathieu Jalibert. Their second-choice half backs still have bags of (international) quality, and encouragingly, Romain Buros makes his first apperance since the Top 14 final. The pack and bench have the physicality to mix it with Castres - it should be an absolute cracker.
Montpellier v Clermont Auvergne - 3.35pm GMT
Headline news here is the return of Stuart Hogg at fly-half for the first time since a nasty achilles injury in April. For those not familiar with Montpellier, Hogg was their first choice 10 last season, and they found good form with him driving them round the pitch and banging kicks over from long range. Without wanting to make light of it, Hogg comes with plenty of metaphorical baggage these days. He is not alone in that at Montpellier and all those with a notably unsavoury history are involved here. Regardless of their off-field character, they are still putting in impressive performances on the field; this is a strong-looking Montpellier.
Clermont look pretty strong themselves, despite missing Régis Montagne, rumoured to France’s starting tighthead next weekend - as well the injured Thomas Ceyte. Their half backs have been in sparkling form this season. It’s a dynamic back row, with plenty of bulk and power in the starting tight five (despite the absence of talisman Thomas Ceyte) but they probably don’t have the same level of quality available on the bench.
We reckon Montpellier should get the win and not just based on these selections: Clermont have yet to register a point away from home, a misfortune they share with relegation candidates Perpignan and Montauban.
Bayonne v Montauban - 3.35pm GMT
Speaking of Montauban, for the first time this season, they come into a weekend off the back of a victory. Unfortunately for them, Bayonne haven’t lost a Top 14 game at the Stade Jean Dauger since the 2023-2024 season; you can get odds as short as 1/100 on a Bayonne win this weekend.
We often say you can judge the strength of team selections in French rugby on whether they have picked their first choice front row and their first choice half backs. By that measure, we have two teams at full noise here - and why not with a three week break on the horizon!
Montauban have picked arguably their best available pack, with Vaea Fifita starting alongside two strong athletic young prospects in Noa Kanika and Kyllian Ringuet. We reckon Hugo Zabalza is USM’s better scrum half - in spite of Joe Powell’s international experience - and Jérôme Bosviel is their main man. Unfortunately, the rest of the backline is hampered by injuries, with both X-factor men Segundo Tuculet and Josua Vici absent.
Bayonne, as mentioned, appear settled up front. Emerick Setiano returns from Marcoussis, and many thought the man on the other side of the front row Andy Bordelai should have been there with him. Joris Segonds also returns from that training camp in a back line that is full strength except for Cheikh Tiberghien, who is on a terrifying looking bench. Those odds for Bayonne look compelling…
Toulouse v Stade Français - 8.00pm GMT, Premier Sports Rugby (Streaming only)
Talking of things that look terrifying, it doesn’t need Halloween for a Toulouse side to look scary. They might be without a staggering nine players held back by Fabien Galthié, but the starting line up boasts 10 capped internationals and you’d expect plenty to feature this autumn. Paul Graou and the perennially silky Juan-Cruz Mallia are regular half-backs starters for the doublons and that back line looks just as capable of running riot as ever. By Toulouse’s standards, the bench looks slightly under par, despite the sighting of Cyril Baille for the first time since Round 3. Malachi Hawkes and Raphaël Portat are recalled from their loans at Provence to fill in, while Roméo Martin-Bonnard is in line for a debut.
This game is known as Le Classique (and often actually El Classico). It is the two most successful sides in French rugby and, this weekend, also a top of the table clash. Fittingly then, Stade Français have picked a strong side. Their half-backs have been in excellent form - is Tawera Kerr-Barlow ever not in form? - and the promising Noah Néné is forming a delightful partnership with the ever-impressive Jeremy Ward, a key man for Stade. It is never not exciting to see Sekou Macalou in a starting jersey. Do the Parisians eye a scalp maybe?
Sunday - La Rochelle v Racing 92 - 8.00pm GMT, Premier Sports Rugby (Streaming only)
No team news at the time of writing (expect that on Saturday evening), but we know that La Rochelle will be without Boudehent, Jegou and Le Garrec. In a bit of a surprise bonus though, Grégory Alldritt should be available for selection. We should expect to see the fresher faced, newer version of La Rochelle that has had plenty of outings this season. And for the most part, the youngsters have been impressive, and will be buoyed by last week’s win in Lyon.
Racing 92 will be without Gaël Fickou and Romain Taofifenua, who played less than half of last week’s win over Pau anyway. Ugo Seunes has been so impressive this season, earning himself a call to fill in as a replacement for Jalibert in Marcoussis. Expect him to start in a backline likely to be filled with Fijian flair.
This is the only game where we were split on who the winner would be. Both sides might not be the powerhouses of previous years, but both seem to be settled and picking up good results. With no Top 14 for the next two weekends, let’s hope to round out the first block of fixtures and see off the weekend with a belter!