Toulouse and the UBB in attack, the Ile-de-France clubs suffering…, the first phase in figures

The best Toulouse for 5 years

With 46 points, the Rouge et Noir achieved the best first leg in five years. All while spending most of the time of their superstar Antoine Dupont, who has only played three matches in the Top 14 since his Olympic 7s title this summer. The reigning double French champions are the team which has scored the most points (385) and the one which has conceded the fewest (211). The only downside: a home defeat against Union Bordeaux-Bègles in September, breaking an 18-month invincibility at home. UBB, finalist last season, is runner-up to Toulouse with one point less, while the third, Toulon, is already 8 points behind the leader.

Maqala power 10

Finally spared from the injuries that plagued his last season, the 24-year-old Fijian center is giving the full measure of his talent in Bayonne, where his association with the powerful Manu Tuilagi is causing havoc in opposing defenses. Top scorer in the Top 14 with 10 tries in 11 matches, Sireli Maqala has only remained silent three times this season, and is largely responsible for Bayonne’s good first leg, surprising 4th. The Fijian is ahead of Lyonnais Baptiste Couilloud and Toulonnais Gaël Dréan, 8 tries each. In terms of best directors, Toulouse’s Thomas Ramos (133 points) is narrowly ahead of the LOU scorer, Léo Berdeu (128), and the Palois Joe Simmonds (122).

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Olympic champion, public favorite… 5 things to know about Sireli Maqala, the Fijian phenomenon from Bayonne

Zero points for Paris

In seven trips, Stade Français has not won a single point away from home, the worst result in the championship. With 240 points conceded away from its bases – only the promoted Vannes did worse – the Parisian club takes on water when it travels, and the difference with last season, which it finished as the best team at the exterior, is striking. And as the Pink Soldiers did not refuel at Jean-Bouin, notably with a defeat against Toulon, the second best team in the regular season last season still floats a small point above the play-off place.

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New rules, staff philosophy, hybrid pitches: Garbajosa and Wisniewski explain the move to the offensive of the Top 14

Always more tests…

Following the momentum of recent years, Top 14 teams are scoring more and more tries and points: on average, 49.3 points per match and 5.7 tries. A total carried by the Toulouse leader (385 points, 48 ​​tries) and its runner-up UBB (384 points, 50 tries), but also by better pitches and refereeing more geared towards the game. But beware of winter: the last three days have significantly lowered the average, with only 37.9 points per match.

…And boxes

Just like the tests, the yellow cards are flourishing: already 168 (259 for the whole of last season). The prize goes to Racing 92, whose players were excluded for ten minutes on twenty occasions. The Ile-de-France residents therefore played the equivalent of two and a half matches with one less player on the pitch! The player most penalized is also a Racingman: international second or third row Cameron Woki, who received three yellow cards, as well as a red at the very end of the match in Pau. Conversely, the least sanctioned team is UBB with 125 penalties conceded in 13 days (compared to 158 against Racing 92, the dunce cap going to MHR, 160 penalties).