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Clermont are the favourites to win the 2017/18 Top 14 title, according to a survey of those who should know a thing or two about the state of play in the French top flight.
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We’re not talking pundits, commentators or journalists. We’re not even talking former players or ex-coaches with media training who have nothing better to do than navel gaze, ruminate and pontificate on the forthcoming campaign.
We’re talking coaches. Genuine, bone fide, 100% guaranteed current French Top 14 coaches, who responded to a survey from twice-weekly rugby newspaper Midi-Olympique. Only La Rochelle’s staff declined to take part in the poll.
Five of those who responded said the 2017 champions would successfully defend their title this season. Four opted for Montpellier, two for Toulon, one for Racing 92 – and one did not give an answer.
Clermont and Montpellier are the coaches’ choice to finish in the top two at the end of the regular season, and qualify directly for the play-off semi-finals, polling 11 and seven responses respectively. Toulon (six), Racing 92 (one) and La Rochelle (one) also picked up votes from the 13 coaches.
Such is the confidence that Franck Azema’s Clermont will be in the top two that they do not even feature in the list of teams expected to compete for the remaining four play-off places.
Racing 92 are top of the clubs expected to finish in the four ‘barrage’, or quarter-final play-off slots, polling 10 votes; Toulon picked up eight; Montpellier, La Rochelle, Lyon and Castres all polled six; Pau and Toulouse got two votes; Stade Francais and, somewhat surprisingly, Oyonnax both got one.
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At the other end of the scale, newly promoted Agen are the strong choice to yo-yo straight back down to the ProD2, with 11 of the 13 coaches taking part opting for the side from the southwest. The only other team to poll a vote was the other promoted side, ProD2 champions Oyonnax.
A rule change that comes into force this season means the team that finishes 13th in the league is not automatically relegated, but goes into a play-off match against the side that finished second in the ProD2. According to the coaches polled, Oyonnax are the Top 14 side most likely to face that extra match, with Stade Français and Agen also in the reckoning.
But, before you all go rushing off to put your money where the Top 14 coaches’ mouths are, know this. At this time last year, no one foresaw La Rochelle’s charge to the top of the table. They weren’t even in the reckoning for a play-off place. The coaching collective predicted that Racing 92 would successfully defend their title with four votes, ahead of Montpellier (three) and Clermont (two).
They were bang on with positions at the relegation-end of the table, however, with Bayonne and Grenoble picking up the bulk of the mentions, ahead of Lyon, Brive and Pau.
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The coaches who took part in the Top 14 2017/18 prediction survey were:
Mauricio Reggiardo (Agen); Jeremy Davidson (Bordeaux); Nicolas Godignon (Brive); Joe El Abd (Castres); Franck Azéma (Clermont); Pierre Mignoni (Lyon); Vern Cotter (Montpellier); Adrien Buononato (Oyonnax); Greg Cooper (Stade Français); Simon Mannix (Pau); Laurent Labit (Racing 92); Fabien Galthié (Toulon); William Servat (Toulouse).
Comments on RugbyPass
I would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
10 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
81 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
81 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
5 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
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