Four sides are playing for the last two semi-final places in the race for the Bouclier de Brennus, while two sides are scrapping for one still open Top 14 spot next season. There’s still plenty at stake as this campaign draws to a close
When Saturday ends, we’ll know the answers to three of the remaining Top 14 questions for the 2024/25 season.
We’ll know who, of Bayonne or Clermont, will meet Toulouse in the first semi-final at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium on Friday, July 20; if Toulon or Castres will take on Bordeaux in the second semi-final at the same venue 24 hours later. Both matches are sold out.
We’ll also know which one of Grenoble and Perpignan – who meet at a packed Stade des Alpes – will fill the last remaining open Top 14 berth next season.
Semi-finalists Bordeaux already have the Champions Cup, and the Elite1 women’s championship trophies; while their academy side will meet Toulon in the Reichel Espoirs Elite tournament final on June 14. The Bouclier de Brennus is still missing from their cabinet.
But Toulouse – who fell to Bordeaux in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, and in the final of the Elite1 tournament, and in the semi-finals of the espoirs’ competition – won’t want to give up this title.
But this weekend is for the barragistes: Toulon and Castres, Bayonne and Clermont also have Lyon in their sights, even if they’re taking a longer route to get there.
Friday, June 13th
Bayonne v Clermont (kick off 9.05pm)
This has been a long time coming. Three-time French champions Bayonne haven’t qualified for the post-season race for the Brennus since 1992 – long before the current league format and its knockout phase; long before the Top 14; before, even, the official advent of professional rugby. They last reached the final in 1982, and most recently lifted the famous shield in 1943.
An unbeaten home record this season – the only Top 14 side to manage it – and a tight grip on fourth since the end of January means Bayonne’s play-off placing is no surprise.
It’s the next step on an ongoing project at Jean Dauger, led by manager Gregory Patat, who has barely put a foot wrong since taking over from Yannick Bru in July 2022. And Patat wants more: “We’ve [already] made history,” he said this week, “but that shouldn’t be the end of it.”
Word is that Patat intends to keep faith with most of the squad that beat Toulon in the final round of the regular season. With one possible – and very notable – exception. Manu Tuilagi, who suffered a rib injury in last Saturday’s win, was on the sidelines of training earlier in the week. The consensus was that he is unlikely to make Friday’s 23.
Federico Mori is in the running to start in his place at 12, alongside Sireli Maqala.
Left wing Mateo Carreras, meanwhile, was carefully managed because of a worrying knee injury. He may get the call, but the coaches hedged their bets with Yohan Orabé heavily involved in early training. Looks like that’s a call they’ll be happy to make late.
Camille Lopez, meanwhile, will make his bow at Bayonne off the bench, with Joris Segonds set to start.
Clermont blasted Bayonne’s pre-match anthem Pena Baiona during midweek training in an effort to recreate the atmosphere of Jean Dauger. Like their Basque opponents, this is new territory for most of the squad – of those not in the infirmary, only Peceli Yato, Alexandre Fischer, Cristian Ojovan, Thibaud Lanen, Alivereti Raka, Sebastien Bézy, and Etienne Fourcade have already experienced a Knockout Spring at the club.
Coach Christophe Urios had earlier cheerfully labelled his players ‘bastards’ after, for the first time this season, he said, they put in a genuine 80-minute performance to lay waste to Montpellier’s hopes of a Champions Cup place in the final match of the regular season.
It was, he said: “the most complete, the most accomplished [performance] in terms of play.” And it moved them up from seventh in the table to fifth, at the expense of La Rochelle, who slipped out of the play-off places altogether and will – in the words of their manager Ronan O’Gara, watch the final phase ‘from the sofa’.
On the downside, it looks like they will miss the experience of Marcos Kremer and George Moala. Kremer had a brace on his left ankle on Wednesday; while Moala is on stand-down following a series of brain injuries.
Saturday, June 14th
Grenoble v Perpignan (kick off 6pm)
A third ‘access match’ play-off in as many seasons for Grenoble. A second in three campaigns for Perpignan. The sad truth is that, by all pre-final reckonings, Grenoble shouldn’t even be here.
They’d done almost everything right. They finished top of the ProD2 table, as Vannes did last season, and Oyonnax the season before. They scored 987 points in 30 regular season matches, and crashed through 1,000 points in the semi-final victory over Provence at a sell-out Stade des Alpes.
Despite some injury concerns, the wind seemed set fair for Grenoble – briefly relegated from the ProD2 in 2023 for financial reasons after nearly making the Top 14 – to break through their promotion blockade at Stade Ernest Wallon at the third time of asking.
And then Montauban happened. They became the first sixth-placed finisher to be crowned ProD2 champions and win promotion to the Top 14, leaving Grenoble staring into the abyss of another promotion-relegation play-off at Stade des Alpes.
Captain Antonin Berruyer said immediately after the final defeat: “We still have a chance to achieve our dream. We’ve had a great season so far, and we’re not going to let it slip away. We have one game left to do it. It’s up to us to step up.”
And Lyon-bound hooker Mathis Sarragallet this week admitted: “The bus ride back was endless.”
While Grenoble headed home to prepare for this match on the back of a numbing final defeat, Perpignan scored five second-half tries to beat Toulouse on the final night of the Top 14.
More importantly, perhaps, this play-off has been an open part of the conversation at Stade Aime-Giral for some time. “We didn’t wait for the end of this Top 14 regular season to prepare for it,” manager Franck Azema explained this week. “Thirteenth is the reality of our season – we have to accept it. One thing is certain, we still have a chance to stay in the Top 14.”
Two sides that don’t want to be at Stade des Alpes on Saturday. One, however, that’s been planning for it and working towards it – where talk of it hasn’t been taboo. And one that comes in on the back of a morale-boosting win, while the other copes with a gut-wrenching loss. Home advantage vastly outweighed?
Perhaps. But Grenoble won’t go quietly into the night. “We have nothing to lose,” Sarragallet insisted. “A lot of people see us losing, see Perpignan winning one more access match. If that can take some of the pressure off us, that’s great.
“We all wanted to move up last week. There are players who are leaving for the Top 14 next season, others who almost did so and extended their contracts to play in the Top 14 with Grenoble… well, here it is: our first Top 14 match is Saturday.”
Toulon v Castres (kick off 9.05pm)
Toulon coach Pierre Mignoni had more than one eye on Saturday’s barrage round last week, when he named a strong squad for the final regular season match at Bayonne, despite only having a largely theoretical chance of overtaking Bordeaux and claiming second place – with its barrage-round bye.
The win they needed at Jean Dauger was always remote, and as it turned out never happened. Toulon finished their campaign with four defeats in five games.
Mignoni justified his decision not to rest players for a play-off he knew was coming: “We absolutely had to play this match because players need rhythm. We were already qualified, but we came looking for a lot of rhythm,” he said immediately after the match.
“Now we’re going to prepare for the final phase. This match has done us good where we need to improve. That’s exactly what I was looking for.”
Other than Gabin Villiere, who suffered a concussion in the defeat at Dauger, Toulon came through their Bayonne high-intensity training run unscathed – so Mignoni has a near full-deck to pick from for Saturday’s match. With Enzo Herve also injured, Dan Biggar is in the wider group, so may get one last outing at Mayol before heading into retirement. So too, perhaps, Ma’a Nonu.
Last season’s play-off loss at home against La Rochelle weighs heavy on the squad and staff at Toulon. As does the Champions Cup quarter-final slip against Toulouse this season. But Mignoni reckons they’re in the best place possible to avoid that – and set-up a semi-final against Bordeaux in Lyon a week on Saturday.
Castres will have other ideas, despite a mediocre performance last time out in Paris. Goals for the campaign – a twin run to the knockout phases of the Champions Cup and Top 14 – have been achieved. According to manager Xavier Sadourny, “We have the idea that we’ve done the job, but now we have to go further.”
The visitors will be without centre Jack Goodhue, but should welcome Will Collier back to the starting line-up.
The two matches to date this season between Toulon and Castres have been tight. Mignoni’s charges won 30-28 at home thanks to a late Herve penalty. They lost 28-26 at Stade Pierre Fabre – Melvyn Jaminet missed a conversion attempt that would have levelled the scores five minutes from time.
It could be tight again on what’s forecast to be a hot night on the south coast of France. Daytime temperatures are expected to hit the mid to high-30s, and – even at 9pm – won’t have dipped much below it. Both sides will have to deal with that, as well as their opponents in – for Castres – a hostile atmosphere. But they won’t hesitate to get in their hosts’ faces. And Toulon won’t back down. Expect… anything.
Looking for insightful, knowledgeable French rugby content? My name is James Harrington. I’m a France-based freelance sports journalist, writing mostly about French club and international rugby. Contact me for match previews, reviews, articles, news, features, interviews, live blogs, or just all-round, up-to-date, French rugby expertise.
You can read my regular French rugby column in The Rugby Paper every Sunday. I also round-up the Top 14 action on the Irish Examiner website.
I’ve popped up on Rugbypass, and even done bits for Rugby World.
James Harrington: Rugby writer and freelance sports journalist 
James Harrington: Rugby writer and freelance sports journalist
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