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Jeremy Marty
Published on
Dec 26 2024 at 1:37 p.m.
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No truce from the confectioners for the players of the Top 14 who will be on deck Saturday December 28 and Sunday December 29 for the 13th day of the championship.
If the weekend will be marked by Boxing Day, in a Top 14 where each point can make a difference, the protagonists will not return to the field to give each other gifts. Focus on five things to know before the start of the games.
Stade Toulousain king of Boxing Day
The National Rugby League (LNR) launched Boxing Day from the 2009-2010 season. Taken from English culture, this “box day” has since become part of the Top 14 routine.
At the dawn of the fifteenth edition of this special day, always located between Christmas and New Year's Day, one club is doing well. Indeed, Stade Toulousain won 12 matches out of 14 Boxing Day. It remains to be seen whether Antoine Dupont and his friends will offer a thirteenth victory to their supporters against Stade Français this weekend.
Behind the club from the pink city, Castres, which travels to Bayonne on Saturday December 28 (4 p.m.), has ten successes. La Rochelle, which won nine times during the holidays, completes the podium and will try to reach the milestone of ten on the Perpignan lawn this Sunday, December 29 (6 p.m.).
Maqala… and the others
Top scorer in the Top 14 with nine tries in ten matchesSireli Maqala is also the player who has broken the most tackles (47) in the elite, without forgetting his eleven crossings.
Unpredictable, fast, powerful… the Bayonnais embodies a constant threat to any championship defense. Surely spoiled in recent days, Jean-Dauger's public would probably not say no to a little discount offered directly by the Fijian center.
Who will be fall champion?
Boxing Day will mark the mid-season of this Top 14 version 2024-2025. Like every year, the honorary title of autumn champion will be awarded to one of the French teams. At the top of the Top 14 with 41 points, Bordeaux-Bègles and Toulouse will engage in a remote duel to afford these mid-season laurels.
If the Toulousains will take on the costume of favorite against Stade Français, the task will not be easy for the Bordelais who are hosting an RCT in great shape recently with three consecutive successes… The Varois could even finish in the lead if they win with the bonus and Toulouse bows without taking a point on its lawn.
A more than tight bottom of the table
Like every year, the fight for survival will come down to details. While the first phase will see its last battles, five small units separate Vannes, 14th with 15 points, and Lyon, 11th with 20 points. Pau (13th, 19 points) and Perpignan (12th, 19 points) also fit in this pocket square.
It is certainly a Boxing Day under pressure which awaits these clubs with in particular a confrontation in Pau and Vannes (Saturday December 28 at 2 p.m.) which risks doing damage. The next day, Lyon will try to grab points at Racing 92 (4 p.m.) while Usap will have to scrap against Stade Rochelais in Aimé-Giral (6 p.m.).
A day of solidarity
This year, the seven Top 14 matches will be dedicated to “families and vulnerable children” in order to “unite supporters around the spirit of rugby, but also around the cause of early childhood and the actions of Restos du Cœur for the youngest children” as the LNR points out.
During the last three Boxing Days, the association between Restos du Cœur and the clubs helped finance more than 560,000 meals.
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