TOP 14. The 22nd day of Top 14 promises to be decisive in the race for the top 6 with four derbies on the program.
Like every year, the National Rugby League (LNR) decides to devote a day of the Top 14 to the derbies. This 22nd day of the French rugby championship is the scene of local rivalries but also of meetings between direct competitors for qualification in the top 6. Five days from the end of the regular season, each match is important.
Ejected from the first six places (7th – NDR), Racing 92 intends to participate in the final phase at the end of the season. For this, the Ile-de-France residents will have to win against their Parisian neighbors Stade Français, 11th in the standings, whom they will face three times in the space of a few weeks with the round-trip confrontations in the round of 16 of the Coupe d’ Europe. We have to go back to the 2015-2016 season for the players of Racing 92 to win in the two Top 14 matches. After their victory in the first leg at Stade Jean-Bouin (21-36), Gaël Fickou and his teammates to impose itself well on the lands of the Stade Français.
Humiliated 41-0 on October 24 in Toulouse, Castres Olympique plans to take revenge against the reigning French champions. After the beating received in the fall, the center of the CO, Thomas Combezou had declared: “We will try to annoy them in a while, when we meet them again”. 3rd in the standings, the Toulousains will be able to fully count on the return of their internationals to the XV (against Lyon, Dupont, Ntamack, Marchand had notably started on the bench).
Finally a victory against the black beast? Facing La Rochelle, Bordeaux-Bègles remains on three losses in a row conceded with an average gap of 17 points. Christophe Urios and his players intend to take their revenge: “We are not going to invent anything, what is important is to play with our strengths, use them to play on their weaknesses. Today, there is a real rivalry, they are better than us but we want that it stops”.
Last derby on the program of the 22nd day of Top 14, Lyon receives Toulon who dreams of a fantastic comeback in the top 6 in the event of victory. 9th in the championship, the Toulonnais travel to Lyon to face LOU who have the best average points at home in the Top 14 (32 – NDR), where they scored 35 of their 55 tries in total. This meeting is important for both teams: Pierre Mignoni’s players must ensure at home to ensure qualification for the final phase while those of Franck Azéma will try to create the feat in the Rhône to be able to afford a nice end to the season.
Note that for this day of Top 14, some matches will be refereed by foreign referees to prepare the teams of the French championship for another style of refereeing in view of the next two European deadlines.
The program for the 22nd day of Top 14:
- Castres – Toulouse: Saturday April 2 at 3 p.m.
- Clermont – Brive, Saturday April 2 at 5 p.m.
- Lyon – Toulon, Saturday April 2 at 5 p.m.
- Biarritz – Pau, Saturday April 2 at 5 p.m.
- Perpignan – Montpellier, Saturday April 2 at 5 p.m.
- Bordeaux-Bègles – La Rochelle, Saturday April 2 at 9:05 p.m.
- Racing 92 – Stade Français, Sunday April 3 at 9:05 p.m.
What is the ranking of the Top 14?
What is the schedule for the Top 14?
Here is the entire calendar of the French rugby championship and the next final stages.
What is the schedule for the Top 14 days?
For all the days of the Top 14, here is the established program:
- 4 meetings on Saturday at 3 p.m. (in multiplex)
- 1 meeting on Saturday at 5 p.m.
- 1 meeting on Saturday in prime time (9 p.m.), accompanied before and after the match by the Canal Rugby Club.
- 1 meeting on Sunday in prime time (9 p.m.), accompanied before and after the match by the Canal Rugby Club.
Which teams are in the Top 14?
As the name of the French rugby championship indicates, 14 clubs are in the elite, here is the list of clubs:
- Biarritz
- Bordeaux-Bègles
- Brive
- Castres
- Clermont
- La Rochelle
- Lyons
- Montpellier
- Paul
- Perpignan
- Racing 92
- French Stadium
- Toulon
- Toulouse