Besides the match at the top between Brivistes and Grenoblois, the Montalbanais and the Biterrois compete in a crucial match in the race for the first six places.
The Dauphin Brive receives the Grenoble leader on Friday during the 29th and penultimate day of Pro D2 which will see Montauban and Béziers competing in a crucial match in the race for the first six places. Behind Grenoble and Brive, five teams are fighting to access the top 6 synonymous with the accession dam for the Top 14: it is mathematically acquired for Colomiers (81 points), it’s very well left for Provence Rugby (77 points), Soyaux-Angoulême is in a favorable position (75 points). Montauban and Béziers, who compete on Thursday, compete for the last ticket (72 points).
The first two of the regular season (Grenoble for sure with 94 points and most certainly Brive who has 89 points) access directly in the semi-finals where they will receive the victorious teams of confrontations between the other four contenders. The winner of the final rises directly, while the beaten faces the top 14 in play -offs.
-The confrontation between Grenoble and Brive, the two dominant teams of the season, will therefore especially have the interest of prefiguring a possible final for accession to the Ernest-Wallon stadium in Toulouse. In the first leg, Grenoble had largely imposed himself 34-22 but without offensive bonus, a rarity this season at home where they took 66 points out of 70 possible.
Most of the other meetings are unbalanced, and the top teams should refuel, whether Colomiers against Nice (16th, 30 points), Provence Rugby against Biarritz (10th, 60 points) or Soyaux-Angoulême against Oyonnax (12th, 57 points). But Thursday, at the opening, Montauban receives Béziers for a match whose loser is likely to remain blocked in 7th place, the first which does not give entitlement to the final phase for the promotion in Top 14.
At the bottom of the ranking, the fight so as not to descend is now less intense. Nice is certain to evolve a lower division, and Aurillac, 15th with 48 points, five units behind Agen, a place in front. Cantal players will have to look for a result in Nevers (8th, 61 points), to still believe in their chance to avoid a relegation dam.
