This weekend’s fixtures look pretty tasty with the most succulent dishes seeing a spicy clash between Toulouse and Bordeaux while there’s also a hearty serving of an old French favourite with Top 14 staples Montpellier and Stade Francais going head to head.
Things are certainly getting tight in the French top tier with a number of upset results last weekend well and truly opening up the race for the play-off places.
This weekend’s fixtures look pretty tasty with the most succulent dishes seeing a spicy clash between Toulouse and Bordeaux while there’s also a hearty serving of an old French favourite with Top 14 staples Montpellier and Stade Francais going head to head.
Saturday 26 February
Lyon 1/100 | Draw 33/1 | Biarritz 13/1 (18:15)
We kick things off at the Stade Gerland where Lyon will be looking for the full point haul when they take on bottom-placed Biarritz.
The hosts come into this one off the back of a heartbreaking defeat to Castres which saw them go down 19-17 by virtue of a 77th-minute penalty.
Biarritz were also left bloody and wounded last weekend as they were run ragged by Stade Francais and ended up going down 65-19.
I fancy Lyon to run up a cricket score here.
Pau 99/100 | Draw 22/1 | La Rochelle 87/100 (18:15)
Moving on, and our next fixture sees Pau take on La Rochelle at the Stade Hameau. Only four points separate these two sides who just sit outside the play-off places, so this game could have a massive bearing on how their respective seasons pan out.
In terms of last weekend’s results, Pau had a great round as they beat heavyweights Toulouse 27-22. It was one of their best performances of the year and if they can put in a similar shift here they’ll cause La Rochelle all sorts of problems.
The visitors for this weekend were also in decent form in Round 18 as they notched up a 31-27 home win over a desperate Clermont side.
They will still feel they conceded too many tries though, which has been something of a theme for them this season.
Pau are getting better with each passing week and I think they should be able to fend off this La Rochelle outfit.
Clermont 1/11 | Draw 25/1 | Perpignan 6/1 (18:15)
It’s over to the Stade Marcel-Michellin now and we’ve got two sides at the wrong end of the tabel going head to head in tenth-placed Clermont and 13th-placed Perpignan. Only six points separate the sides on the ladder so it is definitely all to play for here.
Both sides head into this one off of poor results with Clermont going down 31-27 away to La Rochelle while Perpignan went down 29-18 to Toulon. Both teams did show some real fighting spirit last weekend so we could well be in for a game that goes the distance this Saturday.
I’m backing Clermont. I’m all over any double-digit Perpignan plus here, however. I think they’ll ultimately lose the fixture but they should run the hosts close.
Brive 61/100 | Draw 18/1 | Toulon 14/10 (22:05)
Brive and Toulon are next up on Saturday and a win for either side would rekindle some hope of them making the playoffs.
Both teams had decent enough weekends with Brive holding a bang in-form Montpellier outfit to a 16-16 draw while Toulon beat Perpignan 29-18. Toulon still looked a little shaky during their clash with Perpignan, however, and their away form is really worrying.
Brive have been great at home this year and I can’t see them losing to a talented but very individualist Toulon outfit.
Sunday 27 February
Montpellier 1/4 | Draw 18/1 | Stade Francais 32/10 (18:30)
The penultimate game of the weekend sees second-placed Montpellier taking on seventh-placed Stade at the GGL.
Both teams have been in great form over the past few weeks with Montpellier undefeated in their last eight domestic clashes while Stade have won three of their last four domestic games.
In terms of last weekend’s results, Stade really did impress as they put in a free-flowing display beating Perpignan 65-19. Montpellier, on the other hand, were slightly off the boil last week as they could only muster up a 16-16 draw with Brive.
I reckon we’ll get a good spectacle here but Montpellier should be too strong for Stade.
Toulouse 52/100 | Draw 18/1 | Bordeaux 33/20 (22:05)
We’ve got a heavyweight clash in store next up with Toulouse and Bordeaux bringing the curtain down on the weekend’s action.
Both sides have experienced a drop in form in recent weeks with Toulouse coming into this one having lost their last six domestic fixtures, while Bordeaux have lost their last two suffering upsets defeats away to Toulon and at home to Racing 92.
While Bordeaux went down 13-16 to Racing 92, Toulouse lost 27-22 to Pau. They looked rather disjointed during the fixture and had a number of defensive slip-ups.
Toulouse are on a horrid run but I think a big-ticket home game may be just the tonic for the home side.
