Welcome to our weekly review of everything going on in French rugby which this week features only the Top 14, with both Pro D2 and the third-tier Nationale enjoying the last weekend of their winter break. The spectre of two weeks of continental competition looming on the horizon added a layer of complexity to Round 14 - in some cases, this added extra intrigue, in other cases the absolute opposite. So how did the French sides fare ahead of the coming weekends?
Welcome to our weekly review of everything going on in French rugby which this week features only the Top 14, with both Pro D2 and the third-tier Nationale enjoying the last weekend of their winter break. The spectre of two weeks of continental competition looming on the horizon added a layer of complexity to Round 14 - in some cases, this added extra intrigue, in other cases the absolute opposite. So how did the French sides fare ahead of the coming weekends?
Rejuvenated Perpignan Stun Rotated Toulouse
Even in a league where away wins are becoming incredibly rare, it still counts as a shock when the bottom placed side beat the league leaders. USAP have started to turn the corner after the arrival of the new coaching ticket of Laurent Labit (Top 14 coaching royalty), Joe Worsley and Nicolas Nadau. They had won their previous two home games (against Dragons and Clermont), but if there’s one team you don’t want to face when you are building momentum, it is Stade Toulousain.
And yet, there were some glimmers of hope for the Catalans ahead of this game. Toulouse hadn’t won at the Stade Aimé Giral since 2018 and, with a need to pick up wins over the next two weekends in the Champions Cup, they sent a rotated side featuring Kalvin Gourgues at fly-half for the first time in his professional career and - for the first time this season - a full back who hasn’t played international rugby in 19 year-old Thomas Alary.
In spite of a bright start, that glimmer of hope for Perpignan appeared to have been extinguished at half-time, with Toulouse leading 21-11 and threatening to run riot with Gourgues, Paul Graou and Paul Coates to the fore. But USAP rang the changes at half time and the introduction of three top internationals in Argentines Ignacio Ruiz and Joaquin Oviedo and Fijian Peceli Yato changed the narrative of the game. All three brought physicality and aggression, all three scored tries and all three brought plenty (alongside standout starters Alivereti Duguivalu and Jamie Ritchie) to a defensive effort that shut out Toulouse in the second half.
It was a cracker of a game to kick off a mixed bag of a weekend. Perpignan now are undoubtedly on the rise and favourites to avoid the dreaded Lantern Rouge of 14th place. You’d expect Toulouse to send a very different side to Saracens on Sunday.
Writing on the Wall for Montauban?
As a result of USAP’s win in the early kick off, Montauban found themselves, for the first time this season, going into a game as the league’s bottom placed side. Unfortunately for them, it remained this way after the game as well.
They were hosting a Clermont side whose previous away game was, remarkably, at Perpignan. On that occasion, Clermont were coming off the back of consecutive embarrassing defeats in the Champions Cup, and Perpignan duly secured their first win of the season. However, their trip to Stade Sapiac came off the back of an impressive win against UBB. They made only four changes to that side and, even without their injured X factor captain Baptiste Jauneau, waltzed off with a bonus point victory.
The story here, though, is not about Clermont. It always looked like it would be a tall order for Montuaban to survive relegation, but this weekend felt like the turning point. The reason they have not already been cut adrift entirely is because USAP have been so poor. USAP now have back-to-back home wins, whereas Montauban’s last league points came in their victory over USAP in Round 8 at the end of October.
In the six league games since then, not only have Montauban not secured a league point, but they have also allowed all six opposition sides to gain an attacking bonus point. In the Top 14, attacking bonus points are achieved by outscoring your opponent by three tries or more. In other words, Montauban have been miles away from winning and have been shipping a load of tries. Away wins have been thin on the ground across the league this season, so the concerning thing about Saturday’s results is that sides are now sending their strongest teams to Stade Sapiac, seeing a trip to Montauban as a prime opportunity to gain ground on your league rivals. Montauban are unlikely to get the benefit that USAP were afforded on Saturday where one of the big boys sends a weakened side, further reducing their chances of those elusive wins.
With just under half a season still to go, it may be too early to write off Montauban’s survival hopes. However, it is hard to see them staying up if they lose their next Top 14 game. They travel to Perpignan in Round 15…
Revenge (of sorts) for Sam Simmonds
With Toulouse losing, the door opened up for Pau to regain the top spot. Unsurprisingly, given they seem to have already thrown in the towel in the Champions Cup, they sent a strong side to Lyon and would have been hopeful of a fourth away win of the season against a home team struggling for any sort of rhythm. Ultimately though, they let the chance slip away, thwarted by try in the 55th minute from a familiar(ish) face.
When the Simmonds brothers, Sam and Joe, joined Montpellier and Pau respectively, Montpellier coined the (unquestionably genius) term “El Simmonds’ico” for whenever they came up against each other. The rivalry was embraced by members of both the Simmonds family and their original club, Teignmouth RFC, including the creation of half-and-half Montpellier and Pau shirts.
Last season’s “El Simmonds’ico” in Pau culminated in the extraordinary match-winning last minute drop goal from Joe. At the front of the unsuccessful charge-down crew was his older brother Sam, who came agonisingly close to spoiling his brother’s moment of glory.
Whether it still counts as “El Simmonds’ico” now that Sam has traded Montpellier for Lyon is up for debate, but either way, we were denied a true renewal of this sibling rivalry with Joe Simmonds absent from the Pau side due to injury. For his part, Sam Simmonds has been in fantastic form for Lyon this season, putting in another outstanding performance, capped off by that revenge-securing, match-sealing try.
Bordeaux Click into Gear ahead of Big Rematch
Revenge will be the word on many people’s lips in the coming week, with the game of this upcoming weekend undoubtedly the rematch of last year’s Champions Cup final, with Union Bordeaux Bègles hosting Northampton Saints at Stade Chaban Delmas on Sunday. Northampton are unquestionably the form team in England, but based on the evidence from Saturday, they will have to go some to avenge that defeat in Cardiff. Bordeaux are in red hot form.
They actually trailed 16-20 early in the second half against Racing 92, and could have been further behind had Vinaya Habosi’s try not been ruled out due to a yellow card offence from Diego Escobar. However, on the 50 minute mark, the introduction of Nicolas Depoortère and Louis Bielle-Biarrey sparked a turnaround of exhilarating proportions. Each bagged a brace of tries during a remarkable 25 minute period in which UBB scored seven unanswered tries. This pair might be in devastating form of their own but, for the umpteenth time this season, it was Matthieu Jalibert who stood out from the rest. Antoine Dupont aside, it is hard to remember a player who has been so exceptional in every aspect of their game for so many consecutive weeks - let alone one who cannot get into the starting line up for their international side. Northampton, take note: Beware of the Jalibert!
Season of the Team Selection
In this season, more than any it seems, conversations have been dominated by team selections. Your excitement for a game can disappear in an instant, depending on the 23 names you see on the team sheet for the away side. This is what happened when Toulon announced the team they were sending up to La Rochelle for the Sunday evening fixture. The final game of each Top 14 round has historically been a fixture with plenty of prestige, but this season it has lost a lot of its lustre; Toulon aren’t the first team to heavily rotate their side for a Sunday evening away trip.
In an encouraging sign for fans of the Champions Cup, Toulon decided to rest the entirety of their starting XV, fielding a side with seven academy players, with a further three waiting on the bench. Three debuts were handed out, two of them in a pack boasting an average age of 22.
La Rochelle, still blighted by an extensive injury list, were celebrating 10 straight years of sold out home games at Stade Marcel Deflandre and duly put out a side worthy of such an occasion. Even faced with full-strength Top 14 sides, Les Maritimes sometimes make it look like men against boys, so it was no surprise that this game was a walkover. They ran in ten tries, inflicting a record 66-0 defeat on Toulon.