For the eleventh day of Top 14, Racing 92 relocates again to Créteil. The affair will not be easy since the Ciel et Blanc will receive Toulouse residents who will be able to count on the return of their host of stars. In the match of fear, the Section Paloise will receive an unrecognizable LOU after its first outings. The two formations, who remain on four consecutive defeats must straighten their headsunder penalty of seeing the future darken. Woe to the vanquished. In La Rochelle, flanker Levani Botia will return after six months without playing. For the last test of the autumn tour, Ireland hosts Australia. Can the Wallabies achieve the feat on Celtic soil? Here is the information before this weekend.
Stade Toulousain finds its executives, XXL challenge for Racing 92
This Saturday (kick-off 2:30 p.m.), Stade Toulousain travels to Créteil to challenge Racing 92. The Ile-de-France team, injured after the defeat received against the Parisian rival (40-24), will wait impatiently for the Haut-Garonnais. But it will be Everest that will present itself against Stuart Lancaster's men.
And for good reason, after the end of this fall tour, the Ugo Mola band will travel to Val-de-Marne with a plethoric armada. The returning internationals, the Cros, Ramos, Capuozzo or Marchand should, barring any surprises, apply for this meeting, and get started. This should also be the case for superstar Antoine Dupont. It remains to be seen whether the captain of the Blues will start on the bench or as a starter.
As you will have understood, it is therefore a major challenge that awaits Racing 92. The Ciel et Blanc will certainly borrow some major elements, but like the Stade Toulousain, they will also be able to count on welcome feedback. If Owen Farrell, operated on for pubalgia, will still be classified as absent, Gaël Fickou, Josua Tuisova, Nolan Le Garrec or Tristan Tedder, will all, barring a reversal of the situation, be aligned from the start. Enough to add balm to the hearts of aficionados of the 92 club. Because Racing is floundering at the start of the season and seems far from its standards of yesteryear. The game advocated, soporific for a top player in our championship, is sometimes difficult to understand and the lack of solutions is glaring. In case of defeat against the leader, the current eighth in Top 14 could therefore get stuck at the bottom of the rankings. So before the Champions Cup, Lancaster's charges would be inspired to raise their heads. A success against a complete Toulouse and who will come to Créteil to make a shot in order to collect points before the next doubles, could change the dynamic positively. It is therefore a big match which will open the ball for this eleventh part of the Top 14.
Pau-Lyon: the tense match of the day
To tell you the truth, it would have been difficult to imagine that a Paloise-Lyon Section, at the dawn of the eleventh day, would already be so crucial. For what ? Because the two formations, respectively thirteenth and twelfth, have a sad similarity. They remain on four consecutive defeats! Realize yourself, Palois and Lyonnais have not known the joys of victory since the 6e daytimeon October 12 and 13. The Béarnais won at home against Castres (33-26), while LOU defeated Stade Français (35-3) at Matmut.
Since then, water has flowed under the bridges. And woe to the vanquished this Saturday at the Hamlet. Without disrespect to Sébastien Piqueronnies' men, we were more or less prepared for the Section to play on a soft stomach/maintenance this season. On the other hand, and given his great start to the season and oh so enticing in the gamewe would not have bet a cent on such a collapse of the Rhodanians, just three points ahead of their weekend host.
It's quite simple, the loser of this match will have to face some serious headaches. The Palois would begin to be considerably dropped in the ranking with a view to maintaining. As for Baptiste Couilloud's partners, a defeat would practically make them say goodbye to the final stages and starting a new difficult season to fight for their survival at the highest level of French rugby. If the poster is perhaps not as beautiful as a Racing-Toulouse, on paper, in accounting terms, it is the one which has the most at stake. A clash between two teams lacking confidence and very difficult to predict.
The warrior Levani Botia is back
An emblematic figure of Stade Rochelais, Levani Botia (35 years old, 1m82, 103kg) was believed to be lost to rugby. And the main interested party too, to tell the truth: “ I was really afraid that my rugby career was over. That was the first thing that came to my mind, but after that they encouraged me and told me everything would be fine. », he declared in the columns of Midi Olympique. Last May, against UBB, the very solid Fijian third line or center, gets injured in a tackle. The verdict is final: forearm fracture. Since then, the player has not set foot on the pitch, for more than six months. An eternity for an essential element of the La Rochelle system, who was very rarely injured during his career : « I'm just human. Sometimes if you're not ready, you get hurt, you fall. But a human being gets up and leaves. So I'm glad to be back », he continued for the biweekly.
It is therefore this Saturday, for the reception in Vannes, that the La Rochelle flanker will make his comeback to competition (4:30 p.m.). An expected and hoped-for comeback from an “old warrior”, rough, combat leader, who will surely bring everyone behind him. And La Rochelle will really need it. If successful, they will be able to approach the first two places synonymous with a direct semi-final. And count on “Lep’s” to celebrate his comeback with a victory.
Urios finds Castres, Clermont on its way?
Another meeting which will have the merit of being awaited: Clermont-Castres. And for good reason, the Auvergne manager, Christophe Urios, will find the COa club of which he was the coach twice, notably between 2015 and 2019, with a French championship title to boot.
In addition to this reunion, this match could allow Clermont, in the event of success, to definitively move to the right part of the ranking. If they have shown themselves imperial so far in Michelin, the Jaunards, too soft on the outside, did not bring back any points from their trips far from their bases. Detrimental when you want to play for qualification. This was accomplished last weekend, with a superb victory in Lyon (22-30). Sixth with the same number of points as its opponent of the day, Castres, Clermont will therefore have to confirm this great success to finally regain its letters of nobility. Facing a fifth-placed Tarn team, always very difficult to maneuver and who will come to Clermont with the firm intention of getting ahead and settling into the Top 6, beware of relaxation.
Can Australia take down Ireland?
It is the last international match of this autumn campaign. This Saturday (4:10 p.m.), Ireland hosts Australia. The XV of Clover, disappointing, sometimes even worrying during this tourfar from his usual standards, stumbling against New Zealand (13-23), narrowly winning against Argentina (22-19), reassured himself last week. Andy Farrell's men largely defeated Fiji (52-17), scoring eight tries and proving, if necessary, that they remained one of the fit nations in world rugby.
Facing them, Australia therefore. The Wallabies, who have gone through dark times, regain momentum since the appointment of Joe Schmidt at the head of the national team. If the mayonnaise took a while to set, the momentum now seems to be underway. During their European getaway, the Australians first got the better of Englandachieving the feat at Twickenham (37-42), before traveling to Cardiff (20-52). Eight days ago, however, they stumbled in Scotland (27-13). So will the Green and Gold be able to end their tour on a positive note, and bring down Ireland? Possible, but nothing is less certain. Certainly, the latter have the weapons to annoy a team that is still solid but less sovereign than a few months ago. From there to winning the bet. We are banking on a close encounter. But in experience, we see Ireland, eager to finish well in front of their home crowd, win the game by a short header. A match that will be worth its weight in gold and which we recommend.
