Top 14: Round 23 preview
A thrilling finale to the Top 14 season is approaching, with the battle hotting up at both ends of the table.
Last Updated: 26/03/10 9:45am
A thrilling end to the Top 14 regular season is approaching, with queues of clubs vying for the play-offs, while others are desperate to avoid the drop.
Bourgoin are among those precariously placed and their last match at the Stade Pierre-Rajon this season against Toulon is a must-win.
With Toulouse (in Saint Etienne), Brive and Montpellier still to play, Bourgoin know points will be at a premium.
However the Berjalliens are likely to target Toulon and Montpellier as the games they are most likely to taste success.
Coach Eric Catinot has conceded it would need the side to "raise their level to one they have yet to find this season" in order to beat Philippe Saint-Andre's men, who are on a run of five victories including the success in Toulouse.
A win for Toulon would all but guarantee them a spot in the play-offs after Racing Metro's slip last week, but the squad is stretched thin enough that Tana Umaga is set to play - if his playing licence is delivered on time.
Racing Metro will be out to prove a point after last week's slip at Montauban against fellow play-off hopefuls Brive.
International lock pairing Lionel Nallet and Sebastian Chabal are back, as is prop Clement Baiocco but points machine fly-half Jonathan Wisniewski is missing through injury.
For Brive they have to win to keep alive their hopes, however Riki Flutey has returned injured from international duty.
Focused
Top 14 high-flyers Castres enter the final straight of the season needing a win over Bayonne before a horror final three fixtures.
Castres, the surprise package of the season, face Perpignan, Clermont and Toulouse in the run-in, meaning they have to remain focused to secure a bye into the play-off semi-finals.
They enjoy the return of France's new star Marc Andreu, meaning there is no spot for Mathieu Nicolas.
Bayonne's task is very different. They'll take anything the can from this game as the spectre of relegation haunts the Stade Jean Dauger and the final day clash with Montauban looms as decisive.
Locks Rob Linde and Nicolas Laffite return but there is no sign of international winger Benjamin Fall, who is likely only to be back for the match against Toulon next week.
If Castres slip up then Clermont have a gilt-edged chance to storm the summit with a home game against Montpellier, who have shown their ambition for this one by leaving out fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc.
That comes in the midst of an injury crisis which has so many scrum-halves injured that Arnaud Solis will make his Top 14 debut.
Federico Todeschini and Fulgence Ouedraogo are two other key players out injured; it could be a long afternoon in the Auvergne.
Clermont often make a habit of attacking practice for their big guns on opposition such as that but Julien Malzieu and Morgan Parra are both rested while Gonzalo Canale is out injured.
That still leaves a back-line of Brock James, Seremaia Bai, Marius Joubert, Brent Russell, Aurelien Rougerie and Anthony Floch for the Heraults to deal with.
Perpignan's title defence has looked a little fragile at times but they appear to be timing their run just about right heading into their clash with Stade Francais..
Following this, the Catalans have away matches at Castres and Toulon before a final-day cruise at home to Albi.
Home matches mean everything in France and Perpignan are prime examples, having not lost at home - in the Top 14 anyway - this season, so it would seem this is a must-win against a Parisian side that just cannot buy a performance at a crucial moment.
Doomed
Mathieu Bastareaud and Dimitri Szarzewski both return for Stade Français, for whom defeat will spell the end of next season's European ambitions and could trigger a lot of comings and goings to complement the coaching turnover.
Only a win over already doomed Albi will do for Montauban if they are to steal a march on the rest of their relegation rivals.
Albi have a nearly complete healthy squad to choose from, with only Florient Fourcade's adductor keeping the staff in sick bay busy.
It will be the first game in charge for new coaching duo Philippe Laurent and Jean-Christophe Baccavont, whose main priority at the moment is probably trying to retain as many players as possible for next year's ProD2 campaign.
Montauban are without Romanian international prop Bogdan Balan who ruptured an Achilles tendon in the win over Racing Metro last week and have a fair list of other injured players but are in confident mood after last week's win.
Biarritz have been terribly inconsistent all season and they face another tough test against Toulouse.
The match has been moved to the Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastian which should provide a big crowd and the team is further strengthened by the return of Imanol Harinordoquy from international duty, prop Fabien Barcella from injury and Karmichael Hunt from the same.
Toulouse have been quiet as mice all week, as can be Guy Noves' wont, but with far fewer international players on duty this year they'll be fresher than they normally would have been. What we do know is that Jean-Baptiste Elissalde is out injured.