Toulouse, Stade Francais launch Top 14 final push

Toulouse face a tough challenge against Stade Francais on Friday in a revival of their Top 14 "Classique" as the chase for play-off spots intensifies.

While the showdown has lost some of its historical significance, both sides are fighting for a home quarter-final tie in May with Stade currently in third spot, four points ahead of Toulouse in fifth.

"There are four games to play and we absolutely have to remain in the top six," Toulouse winger Vincent Clerc told rugbyrama.fr.

"After that, there might be some even better things awaiting us. And we'll have to go and get them. We've never hid. But we'll have to advance step by step."

After a tough start to the season, the 19-times French champions are back to winning ways, having lost just one of their last seven games.

But they face a Stade team that will hope to make up for their disappointing recent form (two wins, one draw, three defeats in their last six games).

"They are having a very good season. They've had a few snags recently at home but so has everyone," Clerc explained.

"We saw in their last game against La Rochelle (19-19) that they remain calm and never panic."

At the top, leaders Toulon and second-placed Clermont face La Rochelle and Castres respectively, just one week before their European Champions Cup final, set for May 2 at Twickenham.

"It would be lying to pretend heads won't be turned towards Twickenham," Clermont coach Franck Azema admitted.

Both teams are likely to field reshuffled squads with Guilhem Guirado, Carl Hayman, Sebastien Tillous-Borde, Bryan Habana, Leigh Halfpenny, Ali Williams, Philip Botha, Chris Masoe and Juan Fernandez Lobbe possibly rested for the title holders in La Rochelle.

That decision raised some concerns.

"For me, it is THE round of the league, a real turning point for the bottom-of-the-league teams," Bordeaux-Begles president Laurent Marti told L'Equipe.

Bayonne fly-half Mathieu Ugalde hinted that "it is possible that this European Cup final will have a say in the unwinding of Top 14".

But both Toulon, on 65 points, and Clermont, 62, are in need of points to secure a semi-final play-off place.

"We need points and we'll try and take them at Castres," insisted Clermont flanker Julien Bonnaire.

"We put ourselves in a tough spot after losing against Oyonnax. We only have four games to play and three of those are away."

Elsewhere, second-bottom Bayonne, who have won just once in their last four games, host Grenoble on Saturday desperately looking for a win to preserve their hopes of Top 14 rugby next season.

Fellow strugglers Lyon, sitting at the bottom of the table seven points behind Bayonne, face Bordeaux-Begles, who will be hoping to put an end to their four-game winless streak.

Meanwhile, Montpellier head to Brive without winger Timoci Nagusa but looking for a win to boost their chances of competing in the play-offs while Racing Metro, fourth, go head-to-head with sixth-ranked Oyonnax.

Fixtures (all times GMT):

Friday

Stade Francais v Toulouse (1945)

Saturday

La Rochelle v Toulon (1345), Bayonne  v Grenoble (1730), Brive v Montpellier, Lyon v Begles-Bordeaux, Oyonnax v Racing Metro (all 1730), Castres v Clermont (1945)
Source: AFP