French rugby Updates : Le café du Rugby.

thomond2006

Stade turn down a kickable 3 points and then lose the lineout.

former legend

Heroic defending by Racing. 15 minutes in their own 22 and nothing conceded.

thomond2006

Benjamin Fall has been immense. Three big hits and one intercept. He's actually leaving for Montpellier in the summer.

vienne86

3-7 now. Cracking match. Great defending by Racing.

vienne86

Ah lovely handling and great try from Racing!

thomond2006

Great finish by Juandre Kruger. It all came from a break off a turnover where Sexton and Roberts played a big part.

thomond2006

Racing break out of their 22 from the restart. After defending for the first 20 minutes they are flying it now. Sexton makes it 3-15.

vienne86

Lovely drop goal from Steyne....didn't need the penalty. Can't take your eye of this.

Taco Corp

ah Johnny... terrible miss

thomond2006

Very poor miss by Sexton!

Buer

Poor miss. Lovely work on the restart though, putting his forward through a half gap and then prodding through on the run to the SF 5m line which leads to another shot at goal.

Need to take these points though.

thomond2006

No mistake from Jonny this time: 6-18.

Great first half from Racing, good game in general!

Buer

SF could well be outside the play off spots after this weekend if they lose this.

Absorbing game. Racing look like they're are doing what they did last season and hitting a strong run at the most important time.

vienne86

Racing are really up for this - they're all over Stade at the breakdown and getting turnovers......instead of being turned over themselves! This is the best I have seen them play. Really entertaining match.

thomond2006

Ah here, Racing hand Stade Francais a try off the restart with a charge down.

Buer

Utterly atrocious from Machenaud. Kick was never on. He hesitated and went for it anyway when the kick was always going to be blocked.

That could be the difference between winning and losing. 18-11 after Steyn misses the conversion.

Buer

How is that not a penalty? SF player reaches over the ruck, grabs Machenaud and pulls him over the top of the ruck before he has picked the ball.

Tox56

Buer wrote: »

How is that not a penalty? SF player reaches over the ruck, grabs Machenaud and pulls him over the top of the ruck before he has picked the ball.

French refs are weird, exactly the same thing happened last night in the Clermont game and the ref ignored it

vienne86

Blinked and missed the try. Now Stade get a penalty. Only four points in it. Stade have got their act together.

thomond2006

Racing have steadied the ship somewhat, Sexton puts them 14-21 ahead.

Macome has been stretchered off, I've never heard of him before today but he was excellent for Stade Francais.

Tox56

Jeez Stade really go all-in with the pink dont they!

vienne86

Tox56 wrote: »

Jeez Stade really go all-in with the pink dont they!

Lovely looking stadium....never seen it on TV before.

Tox56

That has to be the worst attempted clear out ive ever seen from the Racing 4

thomond2006

Plisson on at 10 with Morné moved to fullback.

thomond2006

El Mago draws the last two defenders and feeds Battut who scores in the corner. Some very good buildup from Racing creates the chance out wide.

vienne86

Great from Racing. I think they deserve their lead.

thomond2006

Sexton misses the conversion from the touchline again. 17-26 with 14 to go. Another try for Racing and none for Stade would give Racing a try BP!

thomond2006

Nayacalevu scores an Ngwenya like try! Leaves Sexton for dead.

Steyn shanks the conversion: 22-26.

Swan Curry

BT lose their feed just as Stade look like they're carrying out a pretty nice move off a lineout.

thomond2006

Nayacalevu knocks on from the restart. Racing then get a penalty and Sexton makes it 22-29 with 5 minutes to go.

thomond2006

Well Pascal, that was pretty smart. He encroaches offside as Racing are camped on the Stade 22. Stade are about to lose their LBP.

vienne86

thomond2006 wrote: »

Well Pascal, that was pretty smart. He encroaches offside as Racing are camped on the Stade 22. Stade are about to lose their LBP.

Missed the last ten minutes but just seen the result. Great for racing and well deserved from what I saw.

pickarooney

Just back from Marseille. Decent match, if strangely subdued from both sides.

matthew8

The wheels look like they've officially come off Grenoble. No one should be losing 40-13 to Oyonnax. At least they didn't give up the offensive bonus, by scoring a last minute try. Montpellier still in great form. Castres should be disappointed to only draw away to Biarritz.

Really hard to see Stade making the playoffs. Looks like a 7 horse race. I think metro are quite likely to get a spot and it's between Toulouse and Bordeaux for the other spot. Toulouse should be well able to deal with Brive and Grenoble at home and Bordeaux should beat Biarritz certainly and probably Toulon too. Both teams have Oyonnax away which should be crucial. Only if both teams beat Oyonnax should Metro be under pressure. Bordeaux you'd imagine would be very happy to get 1 point out of their game at Stade which could give them the edge, all other things being equal. I'd fancy Toulouse to win all 3, they're in great form and I can see Bordeaux, as much as I love them, losing to Oyonnax. After all the drama it looks likely the playoffs will have the same teams as last year. As for Stade, they need to win away to Toulon on the last day and hope other results go their way.

On the other end it's a 4 way battle between Grenoble, Oyonnax, Bayonne and Perpignan. Grenoble should be safe because I can't see both Oyonnax and Bayonne winning twice. Perpignan can write off their game away to Clermont, and they'll be underdogs against Toulon. Home to Oyonnax in 2 weeks time is absolutely massive. Lose that and they're finished. Bayonne have a tough run in but all 3 games are winnable. Stade at home, Grenoble away and Castres at home. Personally I think they can get a win and 2 bonuses, while Oyonnax will only get one win (Bordeaux) and a losing bonus somewhere, and Perpignan will be safe by virtue of a win over Oyonnax. Oyonnax to go down imo.

thomond2006

Lyon will add another dimension to the Top14 next year. They are spending big on their squad, including George Smith!

vienne86

matthew8 wrote: »

The wheels look like they've officially come off Grenoble. No one should be losing 40-13 to Oyonnax. At least they didn't give up the offensive bonus, by scoring a last minute try. Montpellier still in great form. Castres should be disappointed to only draw away to Biarritz.

Really hard to see Stade making the playoffs. Looks like a 7 horse race. I think metro are quite likely to get a spot and it's between Toulouse and Bordeaux for the other spot. Toulouse should be well able to deal with Brive and Grenoble at home and Bordeaux should beat Biarritz certainly and probably Toulon too. Both teams have Oyonnax away which should be crucial. Only if both teams beat Oyonnax should Metro be under pressure. Bordeaux you'd imagine would be very happy to get 1 point out of their game at Stade which could give them the edge, all other things being equal. I'd fancy Toulouse to win all 3, they're in great form and I can see Bordeaux, as much as I love them, losing to Oyonnax. After all the drama it looks likely the playoffs will have the same teams as last year. As for Stade, they need to win away to Toulon on the last day and hope other results go their way.

On the other end it's a 4 way battle between Grenoble, Oyonnax, Bayonne and Perpignan. Grenoble should be safe because I can't see both Oyonnax and Bayonne winning twice. Perpignan can write off their game away to Clermont, and they'll be underdogs against Toulon. Home to Oyonnax in 2 weeks time is absolutely massive. Lose that and they're finished. Bayonne have a tough run in but all 3 games are winnable. Stade at home, Grenoble away and Castres at home. Personally I think they can get a win and 2 bonuses, while Oyonnax will only get one win (Bordeaux) and a losing bonus somewhere, and Perpignan will be safe by virtue of a win over Oyonnax. Oyonnax to go down imo.

I'd love Oyonnax to survive, but I think you are right and they will go down. I also think that Bordeaux could get a win there - they have been in great form. The whole thing is going to go down to week 26 - brilliant season.

Morf

vienne86 wrote: »

I'd love Oyonnax to survive, but I think you are right and they will go down. I also think that Bordeaux could get a win there - they have been in great form. The whole thing is going to go down to week 26 - brilliant season.

Is Browne contracted next season?

iroced

matthew8 wrote: »

The wheels look like they've officially come off Grenoble. No one should be losing 40-13 to Oyonnax. At least they didn't give up the offensive bonus, by scoring a last minute try. Montpellier still in great form. Castres should be disappointed to only draw away to Biarritz.

Really hard to see Stade making the playoffs. Looks like a 7 horse race. I think metro are quite likely to get a spot and it's between Toulouse and Bordeaux for the other spot. Toulouse should be well able to deal with Brive and Grenoble at home and Bordeaux should beat Biarritz certainly and probably Toulon too. Both teams have Oyonnax away which should be crucial. Only if both teams beat Oyonnax should Metro be under pressure. Bordeaux you'd imagine would be very happy to get 1 point out of their game at Stade which could give them the edge, all other things being equal. I'd fancy Toulouse to win all 3, they're in great form and I can see Bordeaux, as much as I love them, losing to Oyonnax. After all the drama it looks likely the playoffs will have the same teams as last year. As for Stade, they need to win away to Toulon on the last day and hope other results go their way.

On the other end it's a 4 way battle between Grenoble, Oyonnax, Bayonne and Perpignan. Grenoble should be safe because I can't see both Oyonnax and Bayonne winning twice. Perpignan can write off their game away to Clermont, and they'll be underdogs against Toulon. Home to Oyonnax in 2 weeks time is absolutely massive. Lose that and they're finished. Bayonne have a tough run in but all 3 games are winnable. Stade at home, Grenoble away and Castres at home. Personally I think they can get a win and 2 bonuses, while Oyonnax will only get one win (Bordeaux) and a losing bonus somewhere, and Perpignan will be safe by virtue of a win over Oyonnax. Oyonnax to go down imo.

Interesting analysis . I mostly agree with you but by looking carefully at the table and the potential future results I have SF and Castres out of the top 6 and USAP relegated. Though the latter will come down to Oyonnax getting something from its game in Aimé Giral.

iroced wrote: »

Still an extremely tight championship :eek:!!!

The parisian derby and the Oyonnax-Grenoble games should be v i t a l !!!
The winner of the first game should finish in the top 6 and the loser of the second will be relegated if it's Oyonnax and could be relegated if it's Grenoble, which would be an absolute shocker considering their first 2/3 of the season.

Looks like they were!
SF are out of the top 6.
Oyonnax can still believe and Grenoble are under tremendous pressure now!

iroced wrote: »

If my GW 17 predictions go as predicted

GW 23

Biarritz - Castres 4 2
Oyonnax 4 5 - Grenoble 1 0
Brive 4 - Clermont 1
Stade Français 4 1 - Racing-Métro 92 1 4
Toulon 4 - Toulouse 0 1
Montpellier 4 5 - Bayonne 1 0
Union Bordeaux-Bègles 4 - Perpignan 1 0

Lots of "movements" from what I predicted. Form over fixture played in favour of Racing in the parisian derby. And I didn't see the Biarritz pride coming.
Brilliant games of rugby (with almost no exceptions) this week-end. 36 tries and plenty of quality in most games. Which is good for the championship. It was rightfully criticised for its negative playing last year and earlier in the season to underline now the opposite observation.

Here's the current rankings. Somehow it pleases me quite a lot .

Rank|Teams|Pts|BPS|P|W|D|l|F|A|+/-
1|Montpellier Hérault Rugby |66|12|23|13|1|9|575|463|112
2|Rugby Club Toulonnais |65|11|23|13|1|9|575|400|175
3|ASM Clermont |65|11|23|13|1|9|605|445|160
4|Castres Olympique |62|10|23|12|2|9|521|427|94
5|Racing Métro 92 |60|4|23|13|2|8|390|391|-1
6|Stade Toulousain |58|12|23|11|1|11|475|406|69
7|Union Bordeaux-Bègles |58|10|22|12|0|10|520|468|52
8|Stade Français |58|4|23|13|1|9|458|432|26
9|CA Brive-Corrèze |55|11|23|10|2|11|432|424|8
10|Grenoble |50|4|23|11|1|11|406|530|-124
11|Perpignan |46|8|23|9|1|13|411|510|-99
12|Aviron Bayonnais |44|8|23|9|0|14|356|496|-140
13|Oyonnax |44|4|22|10|0|12|382|490|-108
14|Biarritz Olympique |26|8|23|4|1|18|328|552|-224

More seriously what's interesting is Racing scored and conceded points. That sums up the kind of rugby they've been playing for most of the season. Surprisingly or not Toulouse are in the same boat. Both teams are up for an impressive finish now. I expected it for Toulouse. Not that much for Racing...
What's crazy too is Toulouse and Grenoble have the same W/D/L stats with a +/- 200 pts diff shift. This shows the interest of the bonus points system.
The team which will go down with Biarritz could consider itself unlucky to "suffer" from such an extraordinary (in its litteral sense) season. The leader and the second last only have 3 wins apart :eek:! The second relegated team will probably have more than 10 victories!

Here's my updated GW 17 predictions

iroced wrote: »

GW 19

Oyonnax 4 - Union Bordeaux-Bègles 1


GW 24

Racing-Métro 92 5 - Biarritz
Toulouse 4 - Brive 0
Clermont 4 - Castres 0
Bayonne 4 - Stade Français 1
Union Bordeaux-Bègles 4 - Toulon 1
Grenoble 4 - Montpellier 1
Perpignan 4 - Oyonnax 1


GW 25

Racing-Métro 92 4 - Clermont 1
Perpignan 1 - Toulon 4
Oyonnax 1 - Toulouse 4
Grenoble 4 - Bayonne 1
Castres 4 - Montpellier 1
Stade Français 4 - Union Bordeaux-Bègles 1
Biarritz - Brive 1


GW 26

Bayonne 4 - Castres 1
Toulouse 5 - Grenoble 0
Clermont 5 - Perpignan 0
Montpellier 4 - Racing-Métro 92 1
Toulon 4 - Stade Français 0
Union Bordeaux-Bègles 4 - Biarritz
Brive 4 - Oyonnax 1


Final rankings

Clermont 75
Toulon 74
Montpellier 72
Toulouse 71
Racing M 70
Bordeaux 68

---

Castres 67
Stade F 63
Brive 60
Grenoble 58
Bayonne 53
Oyonnax 51

---

Perpignan 51
Biarritz ...

So Castres would be out of the Top 6.
And the relegation will go down to the USAP-Oyonnax result :eek: !!! Since the first game saw Oyonnax beat USAP 22-9 (1 try to 0) if the result go as I predicted then USAP are down :eek:!

Many things can change though. A couple of games can turn the table upside down.

• If Montpellier manage to beat Grenoble, not only Montpellier can finish top of the table but Grenoble would play a "matter of life and death" game against Bayonne. Bayonne lost heavily in Montpellier but they played some brilliant phases of rugby. They just couldn't maintain that level for 80 min. On the other hand Grenoble got hammered in Oyonnax. They looked lost. They seem not to know what to do to save themselves. So another home defeat and I could really see Bayonne wining there. Which would mean Grenoble could go down.

• If SF beat Bayonne they could send Bayonne down. I don't see that happening but a home defeat would really affect Bayonne's confidence. Despite their "good" display in Montpellier they got 0 point. I think it won't be enough for Stade anyway.

• To qualify Castres will have to beat Bayonne in Jean-Dauger. Bayonne will play for its survival in any case so that'll be a big task for the defending champion.

It will probably all comes down to the BPs scored by each team in the end. What an exciting finale for an excitig season at least table-wise.

matthew8

May as well do my own game by game predictions. It's the only way to properly predict it at this stage.



GW 19

Oyonnax 4 - Union Bordeaux-Bègles 1


GW 24

Racing-Métro 92 5 - Biarritz
Toulouse 5 - Brive 0
Clermont 4 - Castres 0
Bayonne 4 - Stade Français 1
Union Bordeaux-Bègles 4 - Toulon 1
Grenoble 1 - Montpellier 4
Perpignan 4 - Oyonnax 0


GW 25

Racing-Métro 92 4 - Clermont 1
Perpignan 1 - Toulon 4
Oyonnax 1 - Toulouse 4
Grenoble 4 - Bayonne 1
Castres 4 - Montpellier 1
Stade Français 4 - Union Bordeaux-Bègles 1
Biarritz - Brive 4


GW 26

Bayonne 1 - Castres 4
Toulouse 5 - Grenoble 0
Clermont 5 - Perpignan 0
Montpellier 4 - Racing-Métro 92 1
Toulon 4 - Stade Français 0
Union Bordeaux-Bègles 5 - Biarritz
Brive 4 - Oyonnax 0


Final rankings

Clermont 75
Montpellier 75
Toulon 74
Toulouse 71
Racing M 70
Castres 70

---

Bordeaux 68
Stade F 63
Brive 63
Grenoble 55
Perpignan 51
Bayonne 50
Oyonnax 49

---

Biarritz ...

I think your forecast of an Oyonnax BP in Perpignan is a little bit optimistic for them, and I really can't see them getting one in Brive. Clermont barely got one there, and neither Stade or Toulon managed it. Meanwhile I fancy Castres to win away to Bayonne and them to get in at the expense of Bordeaux. French clubs usually play above their level at home but this effect is not as great for Bayonne, and it's generally not as great at this part of the season.

thomond2006

I'll be rooting for Bordeaux, great team to watch.

iroced

matthew8 wrote: »

I think your forecast of an Oyonnax BP in Perpignan is a little bit optimistic for them, and I really can't see them getting one in Brive. Clermont barely got one there, and neither Stade or Toulon managed it. Meanwhile I fancy Castres to win away to Bayonne and them to get in at the expense of Bordeaux. French clubs usually play above their level at home but this effect is not as great for Bayonne, and it's generally not as great at this part of the season.

Re Oyonnax. Yeah, I may be too optimistic for them but USAP's form is dreadful... And Brive will have nothing to play for in its last game.

The thing with Castres is they have periods within their games when they seem to switch off. That killed them in Biarritz. If they repeat that in Bayonne I don't even see then getting a single point. Also they won only 1 game away this year. Shamefully for me it was in Montpellier...

vienne86

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'll be rooting for Bordeaux, great team to watch.

Hey - I thought I was their only fan here - great team to watch. I would LOVE to see them play in the top European competition next season. I would especially love it if Leinster were in their pool!

Larbre34

Lovely bit of spring time rugby on show on the T14 highlights there, Montpellier are very entertaining and full value for their lead. Dont think Toulon and Toulouse damaged each other too much!

BoarHunter

vienne86 wrote: »

Hey - I thought I was their only fan here - great team to watch. I would LOVE to see them play in the top European competition next season. I would especially love it if Leinster were in their pool!

Mind you Lionel Beauxis is moving to Bordeaux next season .... So their current form is not garantied next season.

Neoulous

Getting more and more nervous about this season down here...

Another terrible display from USAP in Bordeaux... And Hook who was one of our best player lately had a complete stinker. Let's hope he doesn't repeat that performance.
In addition, pretty much all results went against our way. The only good one was Bayonne getting nothing in Montpellier.

Our next game is as important as the survival of our club. If we go down I can easily see us fall into oblivion in Pro D2 like our fellow regional former rivals Narbonne and Béziers ...


Hopefully matthew's predictions are better than iroced's ones :pac:.

thomond2006

Oyonnax won 26-12 at home to Bordeaux Begles tonight in a rescheduled Top14 fixture. This means that Oyonnax are now four points from the drop on 48 points with Perpignan on 46 and Bayonne on 44.

Neoulous

Squeaky bum time for us...

Hopefully SF will win in Bayonne after resting their 1st team in the Amlin! And it's upon to us to beat Oyonnax. Stressful week and week-end to come down here!

BoarHunter

Dimitri Yachvili announced the end of his Professional Rugby career at the end of the season.

4 x 6 nations
2 x Brennus
2 x HCup Finals
1 x WC final

A great boot combined with a unique vision, a capacity of leading his pack.

All the best Dimitri !

I take no responsability for the quality of this tribute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miskZ-XkuNg

thomond2006

He's tired mentally and physically according to the man himself. Great player a few years back!

Buer

Probably the best scrumhalf and goal kicker in Europe at times. Was it in 2010 against Munster that they couldn't concede a penalty anywhere from halfway that wouldn't be slotted?

He's still only 33. If Biarritz weren't almost certainly going down, I'm sure he'd hang on another year. I'm surprised he didn't sign for a team like Brive for a final contract.