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And so to the final weekend of a schizophrenic pool stage of the EPCR competitions. Team selection remains a major bone of contention with the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup in their current format and Top 14 sides have certainly played their part in some of the lacklustre games in these tournaments. Their reputation precedes them when it comes to not bothering with Europe, but in recent years they certainly aren’t the only ones stinking the place out.
And so to the final weekend of a schizophrenic pool stage of the EPCR competitions. Team selection remains a major bone of contention with the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup in their current format and Top 14 sides have certainly played their part in some of the lacklustre games in these tournaments. Their reputation precedes them when it comes to not bothering with Europe, but in recent years they certainly aren’t the only ones stinking the place out.
This final weekend should definitely be the best of the pool stage and, with an intriguing round of domestic action on the horizon, the French teams have gone a bit stronger as they look to salvage some pride, sneak into the knockout phases, and build momentum into a couple of crucial rounds of the Top 14.
While there are still no guarantees over whether the Top 14 sides will fire on the day, here is your guide to which teams have put out strong sides, who the form players are, and a few lesser-known names to look out for…
Friday
Pau (vs Bulls (Home), Friday 8pm) - all times GMT
A positive result in a low quality game in Llanelli last weekend means Section Paloise are favourites to secure the final qualification spot for the Round of 16. Aside from their game in Bristol, their team selections haven’t been quite as shameful as some of the other French sides and, with two huge games in the following two rounds of the Top 14 - including that top of the table clash at the Stade Ernest Wallon next Saturday - they have picked a side that is looking to build momentum and give some game time to their returning key men :
A few big overseas names return from injury: Captain Luke Whitelock, former Wallaby Jack Maddocks and, on the bench, Argentina captain Julian Montoya
Tight five gets beefed up by the return of the form lock pairing in the Top 14 of Auradou and Maximin - they are the perfect blend of athletic lineout technician and big lump
6-2 split on the bench, with two second row options in Jolmès and Picquette. Isa has generally been deployed from the bench this season - and to great effect
Experience of Dan Robson made all the difference last week - won Player of the Match in 25 minutes off the bench - partnered alongside 3rd choice fly-half Clément Mondinat
In-form flyer Grégoire Arfeuil is rested, but even with his form, this could well be Pau’s first choice back three for the remainder of the season with Maddocks and Attissogbe now back from injury.
The Bulls are stacked with Springboks and should get the upper hand at scrum time, but it will be hard for many of them to back up on a 6-day turnaround after last week’s hounding by Bristol, especially with the travel. Pau should be favourites.
Saturday
ASM Clermont Auvergne (vs HollywoodBet Sharks (Away), Saturday 1pm)
Unsurprisingly, given their qualification status and the round trip to South Africa, Clermont have not gone particularly strong:
There are high hopes for 19 year-old loosehead prop Matéo Frisach - and not just because he is dating the daughter of head coach Christophe Urios. He has far from disgraced himself at scrum time in his appearances so far, despite his tender age.
Second row Léo Michaux makes his seventh senior appearance. He is the youngest player to have featured in the Top 14 this season, having made his debut in Round 4, just 10 days after his 18th birthday.
Centre Timéo Frier may have had to wait a little longer than Michaux to make his Top 14 debut (18 years and 28 days), but he is three days younger than Michaux.
30 year old Australian centre Irae Simone makes only his second ever professional start at fly-half - his first coming in Round 2 at home to Sale.
Another 18 year old, lock Baptiste Veschambre, is in line for his senior debut on the bench
In short, this is a callow Clermont side and the only thing stopping the Sharks from racking up a huge margin of victory is themselves.
Bayonne (vs Leinster (Home), Saturday 3.15pm)
No side has stunk the place out more than Bayonne in the Champions Cup this season. ‘Pride’ might be an incongruous word to use for Bayonne given their European offerings so far, but they traditionally have the proudest of proud home records in the Top 14 - it is over 20 games since they last lost a Top 14 game at home (in June 2024). There is potential, then, for them to try and restore a tiny modicum of pride at the Stade Jean Dauger and de-rail Leinster’s campaign by spoiling their seeding. For the first time this tournament, we see a Bayonne side resembling a 1st XV:
Enormous tight five (in both height and bulk) and the lineout has some supreme options. Captain Arthur Iturria is more commonly a lock these days, and he remains one of the best lineout forwards in France. Hooker Lucas Martin is a fantastic prospect, very active around the park.
First-choice midfield of Segonds, Tuilagi and Maqala is one of the best in the Top 14. Maqala is exceptional over the ball, and Segonds’ boot will get Bayonne in the right areas and/or kicking goals from anywhere within 50 metres.
Back three are all very good in the air, so we may well see a pragmatic kicking game plan.
The bench shows that Bayonne are struggling a bit with injury - not as strong as it can be. They’ve gone for 6-2 with no obvious back up option at scrum-half (likely to be the versatile Tom Spring although he has never played there), so Jantjies will have to go the full 80 mins.
Bayonne’s starting XV should be able to match Leinster blow-for-blow, but the strength of the Leinster bench should be able to get the game secured in the last 20 minutes. Whether they will be able to get a bonus point victory is less certain.
Toulouse (vs Sale Sharks (Home), Saturday 5.30pm)
The French champions will be glad to be back at home for this round with the successive losses away to Glasgow and Saracens proving out the rugby equivalent of Messi’s Barcelona not being able to do it on a rainy Tuesday night in Stoke. They have gone as strong as they can in each round, and they will still have their eye on doing the double this season. They have resisted making wholesale changes from last week, with only three personnel changes in the starting XV:
One of those is the Cyril Baille, on his day one of the best props in the world. However, injuries have significantly restricted his game time over the last two seasons and it's no longer clear if he is their out and out first choice loosehead.
Léo Banos is one of only three uncapped players (along with Delibes and Graou), but has been given the nod over Roumat due to some excellent form this season. Very active round the park with his tackling and breakdown work. A similar player to François Cros who returns on the bench, having not played since the opening round of the Top 14 - a huge boost for Toulouse and France.
Third change is the return of Kalvin Gourgues in place of Paul Costes, who has shown his overeagerness in defence in their recent defeats to Saracens, Perpignan and Glasgow. Gourgues does seem to have overtaken Costes; he runs some brilliant angles and his range of distribution is delightful.
Toulouse continue with Kinghorn at fly-half and Ramos at full-back. When at their absolute best, Ramos gets more involvements than anyone other than Dupont - regardless of the numbers on shirts, they need to get him on the ball more than last week.
Despite currently sitting in second place in Pool 1, Sale’s team selection looks like it has thrown in the towel. Toulouse should rack up well over 50 points and get themselves that coveted 2nd place.
Castres (vs Munster (Away), Saturday 5.30pm)
Castres have shaken off their reputation for not caring about this competition, and even with two big Top 14 games against two physical sides coming up that sit just above them in the league, Castres have picked a fairly solid side for their trip to Limerick. Not quite full strength, but certainly not a waving of the white flag:
20 year old Fijian loosehead Atunaisa Sokobale makes his first start for Castres after some impressive performances off the bench, coming in for the usually reliable Quentin Walcker, who struggled at scrum time last week. First choice hooker Teddy Durand drops to the bench.
The pack is typically hefty. Second row Florent Vanverberghe starts at no.8 for the first time since his Top 14 debut back in October 2018. Staniforth hasn’t quite hit top form since coming back from a year out with a knee injury, but he is usually one of the best players on the park for Castres.
Vuate Karawalevu has started to show signs that Castres have done an outstanding bit of business in picking him up.
Uruguayan Santi Arata is back for the first time since November. Castres are a different team with his energy and pace.
Some bookmakers have Munster as fairly comfortable favourites. With home advantage, it would be bold to bet against a Munster win, but don’t expect it to be comfortable: this looks like a Castres 23 that is built for making things uncomfortable.
Toulon (vs Gloucester (Away), Sunday 1pm)
Toulon have taken this competition seriously this season, at least in their team selection they have. Their performances have been some way from reaching their potential, and maybe they will be better for last week’s run out. Once again, they pick a side that looks formidable:
Brian Alainu’uese comes into the second row, with Ollivon switching to back row. Big Brian has been in excellent form this season, and gives an already hefty pack even more ballast.
Zach Mercer will garner a lot of attention on his return to Kingsholm. We still haven’t seen the best from him in a Toulon jersey.
White and Albonorz continue their partnership. White was one of Toulon’s better players last week, but Toulon need Albonorz to bed in quickly. The return of Baptiste Serin and Mateo Garcia on the bench is a big boost for Toulon.
Jeremy Sinzelle pays the price for their disjointed showing last week. France U20s Oli Cowie comes in at 12. He’s a really active player, seems to love getting himself involved in the nitty gritty and around the breakdown. Thanks to his parents, his English is impeccable.
The back three showed last week that if Toulon do manage to string together some fluidity then they are incredibly dangerous.
This feels like a proper ‘Will they turn up?’ sort of game, because that Toulon side should comfortably beat Gloucester. On the basis of recent years, they should be the main French contenders outside of UBB and Toulouse, but after a strong start to the season they have stuttered over the past couple of months, and their away form in particular has been dire. An intriguing one.
Sunday
Union Bordeaux Bègles (vs Bristol (Away), Sunday 1pm)
Arguably the favourites for the tournament now. After a sticky start to the season, they got players back from injury and hit form at just the right time for the defence of their title. They got the benefit last year of gaining top seeding in the pool, and will be looking to secure that again with eyes once more on a semi-final across town at Matmut Atlantique. Unsurprisingly, they’ve gone in strong with only two personnel changes from last week:
Boris Palu has played in every game for UBB this season - and played well - and they’ve gone for his mobility and dynamism over the bulkier option of Cazeaux.
Carlu Sadie was excellent last week, and has been in very good form over the past couple of months. However, he had flattered to deceive up to that point, and with Genge returning for the home side, the scrum could be an area for Bristol to target.
The back row remains unchanged. Woki and Matiu have been in outstanding form of late, and du Preez was typically abrasive on his first UBB start last week.
There is no specialist scrum-half cover, with Joey Carbery expected to fill in in the event of an injury to Page-Relo.
Despite a sensational hat trick last week, Rayasi makes way for first choice full-back Buros, who is superb under the highball and brings another big boot.
This could be an absolute classic with both sides going for that top spot. As good as Bristol have been recently, Bordeaux should be favourites for the win: their best players, like Jalibert, Bielle-Biarrey and their centres, are in world-class form at the moment.
La Rochelle (vs Harlequins (Home), Sunday 3.15pm)
It has been rare in recent seasons to see La Rochelle look like that great back-to-back Champions Cup winning team of yesteryear, but in defeat in Dublin last week and their thumping win over a weakened Leicester Tigers, they showed that they still have some of that champion quality in the locker. Last week was the strongest looking La Rochelle side we’ve seen this season, so it is slightly weaker this week:
No Skelton is a blow, but the return of Paul Boudehent for the first time since the Autumn Nations Series is a boost. The France back rower has played exclusively as a second row for La Rochelle this season, and brought plenty of physicality and aggression, but it's undoubtedly a weaker side without Skelton.
Alldritt dropping to the bench is a further nod to the importance of two winnable upcoming Top 14 games for La Rochelle.
Nolann Le Garrec is out with injury, and will likely miss the 6 Nations. It’s a huge blow for La Rochelle and the tempo of their attacking game. Berjon is a capable replacement, but there is no obvious scrum-half replacement on their 6-2 bench.
Seuteni returns to midfield to form an enticing partnership with Simeli Daunivucu, the France U20s star, who announced himself to a wider audience last week. He remains unpolished, but Seuteni feels like the sort of player who can help him smooth off those raw edges.
The bench (as it did for their trip to the Stormers) features more than two props. It would appear that 6ft 6in, 135kg Georgian tighthead prop Aleksandre Kuntelia is covering second row.
They may not be the force of old, and they may be weaker than last week, but La Rochelle should have too much muscle for Quins. With props Kaddouri and Atonio, and plenty of force from the rest of the pack and from the bench, La Rochelle may not allow Quins to get a foothold in the game.
Challenge Cup
Stade Français (vs Ulster (Awaylyon), Saturday 1pm) travel to Belfast to see who will qualify from Pool 3 as top seeds. They make 9 changes from last week’s win over Exeter and, with the exception of Yoan Tanga coming in at no.8, it would be hard to make a case for any of them to be an upgrade on last week’s starters. It’s a similar team to that one that secured a bonus point away at the Cheetahs, but Ulster away is a significant step up from that.
Perpignan (vs Lions (Home), Saturday 5pm) can progress with a win, but you could forgive them for having one eye on upcoming Top 14 action: they host bottom-side Montauban next week knowing that a win would go a long way to ensure they avoid that automatic relegation spot. They have picked a relatively strong, albeit quite youthful, looking side here. There’s a debut for 18 year old centre Diego Mascarenc. Later that evening their relegation rivals Montauban face Connacht in Galway. Given the importance of next week’s game to their whole season, it is not a huge surprise to see a match day squad with so few first choice players. Connacht can start thinking about their seeding for the Round of 16.
Alongside Stade Français, Montpellier (vs Ospreys (Away), Saturday 8pm) are the only other team to have picked up maximum points in the Challenge Cup so far and, like the Parisians, they travel over the Channel knowing that they could miss out on top seeding if they lose. There is still plenty of international quality in their line up, but this is their weakest selection of the Challenge Cup so far, with plenty of younger faces in the mix. Hooker Christopher Tolofua makes his first ever start at tighthead prop (having only played there off the bench previously), and 20 year old Australian Miracle Tangata is in line for a debut off the bench.
As last year’s losing finalists, Lyon (vs Benetton (Home), Sunday 1pm) would have been one of the favourites coming into the tournament but have conspired to lose all three games so far. They can, however, still qualify for the Round of 16 with a win. With two away games in the next two Top 14 rounds, they pick something close to a full-strength line up - especially once you take account for injuries to some key men. Benetton will be eyeing up top seeding and have sent a strong side.
Lyon’s hosts next weekend are Racing 92 (vs Cheetahs (Home), Sunday 5.30pm) are also winless in the Challenge Cup this season, despite being among the favourites coming into it. The Parisians are only playing for pride and clearly have an eye on two very winnable home games in their next two Top 14 fixtures. There are a couple of experienced heads in there, but it is a very young side. Racing pick a full starting front row of 19 year olds, and 17 year old back row Auguste Albuisson (the youngest player in the competition) gets his first start after 3 appearances off the bench. There are three other 18 year-olds on the bench, with two of them in line for debuts.