Top 14, Round 14 preview

The return legs of the Top 14 start this weekend as we move into the second half of the season with Toulon making a trip to the capital.

There is a distinctly unfamiliar look to the table this season as Castres aim for leadership while Biarritz and Stade Francais struggle to stay in the top half of the standings.

It's November, so it's about time for Toulouse manager Guy Noves to have his annual rant about the how unfair it is to run the Top 14 on weekends when most of his players are away on international duty.

When his interviewer suggested that 'Toulouse should be getting used it by now,' Noves nearly had a meltdown, "No, you must saying that...It's getting worse every year."

And Monsieur Noves has point. Only one of the top five teams in the standings last week, Castres, actually managed to win. Would Albi have been able to upset Perpignan if the Catalans had their internationals? Seeing outside centre Mathieu Bastareaud line up at number eight for Stade Francais was simply farcical.

The Toulouse boss called the situation 'dishonest' and 'unprofessional' and he said he was 'nauseated' - wouldn't you be if asked to line up a team to face Montauban this weekend without the top 70 per cent of your playing staff?

Opportunity

Stade Francais will be in a similar situation on Friday when they host Toulon, who will arrive with a back-line including Jonny Wilkinson, Filipe Contepomi and Sonny Bill Williams.

Another tough weekend lies ahead for Stade Francais after their loss to Racing in the Paris derby last week.

While the Parisians have been stripped of their internationals and have a troubling injury list, Toulon welcome back their star fly-half Wilkinson, who will line up inside two other stars in Contepomi and Williams.

Separated by just two points, Toulon will see this as a perfect opportunity to open a gap on Stade Francais, thus taking a step closer to a play-off spot.

A 22-all draw in Toulon on the opening weekend of the season gave an indication that Toulon would be a force to reckoned with and a win in Paris will confirm the Varois as new members of the heavyweights club.

The visitors will however be without the inspirational captain Joe Van Niekerk, who has a shoulder injury, while Stade Francais welcome back Pascal Pape, James Haskell and Hugo Southwell.

Elsewhere on Friday, Castres will want to cement their place at the summit of the standings when they host Biarritz.

Can Castres continue their amazing run? Victory over Toulouse last weekend, a draw with Clermont the week before and losing bonus point against Perpignan have pushed Castres up to the top of the table.

A fourth consecutive big match awaits les Castrais, but unlike their 24-12 win over Biarritz in Round One, another victory will surprise no one.

Laurent Labit and Laurent Travers' team have by no means played flashy rugby, but they certainly have been effective. Castres have a limited squad so it remains to be seen if they can keep up this pace when injuries come a knocking, but for the moment the clashes with international weekends have gone a long way to leveling the playing fields.

Historic win

Biarritz arrive with renewed confidence after snatching victory in the dying minutes in Clermont last week, but will once again be missing a couple of key players away on national duty.

The Basques however welcome back Benoit August and Pelu Lan Taele to their pack while Ayoola Erinle is back from the England camp and on the bench.

Racing Metro will be eyeing a spot in the top half of the table at home to Albi.

Racing Metro will be looking to extend their winning run to six games against their former ProD2 rivals. After their historic win over Stade Francais last week, les Racingmen look set to break into the top six for the first time since the opening weekend when they beat Albi 19-13 on the road.

Back in Paris and Francois Steyn and his team-mates should back themselves for success against the league's tail enders. Azzurri centre Andrea Masi and All Blacks legend Andrew Mehrtens are back in the hosts' side.

But Racing should but be over confident considering Albi's shock win over defending champions Perpignan last week.

Albi's start to the season couldn't have been mush worse, will we see a revival in the second half?

Eric Bechu's team have two American medical jokers in their side - Matekitoga Moeakiola (prop) and John Van Der Giessen (lock), but they are without their captain Vincent Clement, Pierre Correia, Paul Guffroy and their two internationals Julian Dumitras (Romania) and Lucas Borges (Argentina).

Boost

Montpellier are aiming to extend their winning streak to five matches when they host Brive on Saturday.

After looking in a spot of bother a few weeks ago, Montpellier are riding high on the back of four straight wins. This week the Héraultais face the challenge of hosting a strong Brive side without their two best players.

With Francois Trinh-Duc and Fulgence Ouedraogo on duty with Les Bleus, who will steer the Montpol ship? That said, and impressive home record this season should stand the hosts in good stead.

Brive's troubles both on and off the pitch continue to hamper their progress and their inconsistency has left them teetering on the brink of the relegation zone.

After thumping Montpellier 30-9 in August, it's been nearly all downhill for Brive. Some below-par place-kicking hasn't helped but one feels it's just a matter of time before les Correziens come right. There are too many good players in their squad not too. Will it be this week?

Winless in four games, Clermont know that victory over Bourgoin this week is a non-negotiable if they are to remain in contact with the leaders. Deprived of the core of their team in the last-gasp loss to Biarritz last week, l'ASM must once again put below strength side together.

Les Jaunards have been boosted however by the return of Mario Ledesma, who was released from the Pumas squad for the birth of his third child. France loose forward Alexandre Lapandry and Fiji centre Seremaïa Baï are also back.

While Clermont have been weakened in terms of players, Bourgoin are trying to climb out of a dip in morale. Three losses and a draw have seen the Isere club drop into the red zone while there has been more trouble off the field.

Iconic players Olivier Milloud and captain Julien Frier have resigned from their posts on the club's board after losing patience with the slow implementation of 'Objective 2012', a re-financing package aimed at resolving the club's ever-present funding issues.

The match between Bayonne and Perpignan has been called off following an outbreak of swine flu at the latter club.

The players have come down with the H1N1 virus and all the players have now been quarantined until Wednesday.