Stade Français in the lead, Montpellier in difficulty, Racing 92 on pace: 56 days later, here is the Top 14 again

2023-10-29 08:05:39

Everyone had almost forgotten it, the World Cup completely overshadowed it, but the Top 14 has already started. This Sunday, the elite of French rugby returns to the field for the 4th day of the Championship, interrupted for 56 days because of the World Cup. And even if most of the World Cup players have not yet returned to their clubs, several posters are tempting, including a Toulouse Stadium – Union Bordeaux-Bègles to end the day, this Sunday evening.

Let’s go back in time a little. Last August 18, the day of the opening match between Aviron Bayonnais and Stade Toulouse, is already far in the memory. The Basques had however surprised the reigning champions (26-7), deprived, it must be emphasized, of the majority of their leaders, in full preparation for the Rugby World Cup. The next day, while the Blues won their third friendly match against Fiji, the two Ile-de-France clubs launched their season perfectly, Racing dominating UBB (23-18) and Stade Français winning at USA Perpignan (29 -7).

USAP at the bottom, Stade Français at the top

Saved at the last minute last season thanks to a victory in a maintenance match in Grenoble, the Perpignan team got off to a bad start again this new campaign. After their inaugural defeat against the Parisians, the Harlequins took two defeats, the first at Clermont (38-14), the second at Racing 92 (59-10). Enough to already put them in a bad position. Montpellier and promoted Oyonnax are also lagging behind, with only one unenhanced victory in the first three matches.

At the top of the table, it is the star of Stade Français that shines the brightest. The Stadistes are the only ones to have won their three matches, successively dominating the last three of this Top 14, USAP, Oyonnax and Montpellier. Thanks to squads little impacted by the World Cup, with six and two internationals respectively, the Section Paloise and Castres follow on the podium with ten points.

Difficult start for La Rochelle

The two protagonists of the final last June, Stade Toulouse and Stade Rochelais, suffered more with their squads being largely overhauled. The Rouge et Noir still defended themselves perfectly after their inaugural defeat in Bayonne. Taking advantage of a favorable schedule, with Oyonnax and Montpellier as opponents, Antoine Dupont’s teammates, who will be without Romain Ntamack for the majority of the season, have scored two victories and occupy 5th place.

The first three days were much more complicated for the Rochelais, who only managed one victory against LOU. On the other hand, they gave in against Montpellier during the first day (26-15), before losing only by a small point against Clermont (11-10). The return of internationals, notably Uini Atonio, Grégory Alldritt and Jonathan Danty, in the coming weeks, should do a lot of good for the Maritimes.

The next meetings should always be difficult for the main suppliers of Mondialists. Resting since the end of their adventure, against South Africa in the quarter-finals, most of the Blues will be absent from the match sheets for some time to come. For the Argentinians, the English, the South Africans and the New Zealanders, the wait will be even longer, since they have only just finished their World Cup. Stade Toulouse, Racing 92 (four players each), USAP and Toulon (three) will be the main clubs penalized.

However, the emergency is very real. Because the Top 14 teams will play six matches over the next six weeks, which will set a first trend for the final stages. For Stade Français, it starts with a trip to Aviron Bayonnais this Sunday. For the Racingmen of Stuart Lancaster, it is in Montpellier that this second start will be given.