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With just four rounds of the Top 14 rugby season to go, James Harrington looks at the clubs’ successes and failures on – and in some cases off – the pitch.
1. La Rochelle
You can’t argue with La Rochelle’s epic pundit-defying season. Top of the Top 14, already certain of a play-off place, and with a home semifinal in the European Challenge Cup. In the second week of the season they became the only visiting side so far this season to win at Castres Olympique’s Stade Pierre Antoine, a mere 518 days after their they had last won on the road. They only had to wait another seven days for their next away victory, and have barely stopped winning since. They have not lost, at home or away, in the Top 14 since November – and could even make sure of a top-two finish, with a bye week in the playoffs, before their difficult last two games against Montpellier at home and Clermont at Stade Marcel Michelin.
2. Clermont
There’s something about Clermont. They really should win everything going – and yet they haven’t lifted a title of any sort since 2010, when they lifted they Top 14’s Bouclier de Brennus. But that’s not the whole story. They were losing finalists in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2015. In 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016, they were knocked out in the semifinals. They lost the 2013 and 2015 Champions Cup finals – and have only the 2007 Challenge Cup to their name. Now, as another season draws to a close, they are in contention on two fronts. It’s just the ghost of big-game chokes past that keeps them off top spot in the rankings.
3. Montpellier
French rugby fans haven’t quite got to grips with the direct, muscular, winning rugby played by Jake White’s Montpellier. They don’t like it. They prefer sexy rugby, and can even cope with a loss or two as long as it has style. Which is odd, given some of the stodge that the Top 14 throws up in the winter months is about as far from sexy as it’s possible to get. Regardless of what the fans think – and many will be delighted to welcome Vern Cotter back to the Top 14 fold when he takes over at the Altrad Stadium next season – Montpellier are almost impossible to beat at home, and just as difficult to beat away.
4. Pau
Fun fact: sixth-placed Pau – or Section Paloise, to use their Sunday name – have the fourth-smallest budget of all the clubs in the Top 14. First-placed La Rochelle have the third smallest, and fifth-placed Castres the fifth-smallest. And yet, here they all are, making up three of the top five slots in this inaugural French league power ranking. Something to make bigger clubs think. Earlier this season, Pau went on an eight-match unbeaten run to race up the table. They have since had their wings clipped first at Clermont and then back at home against La Rochelle – and have lost influential ex-All Blacks Colin Slade and Conrad Smith to injury, which is why they are fourth and not third.
5. Castres Olympique
At the start of the season head coach Christophe Urios described Castres at the Atletico Madrid of French rugby. A fraction of the budget of the big-spending Barcelonas and Reals of the Top 14, but always there or thereabouts. He’s probably not far off the mark. Many are surprised when the self-effacing Castres reach the playoffs and qualify for the Champions Cup, but the fact is they have managed to do just that in six of the past seven seasons – winning the title in 2013 and reaching the final in 2014. Once again they’re in the mix, so maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise any more.
6. Toulon
Three head coaches in one season – and a couple of backroom staffers thrown in for good measures. Were it not for Racing 92 and Stade Francais, the award for most spectacular self-destruction in a Top 14 supporting role would go to Toulon. And that’s not the worst of it – this season the three-time European champions are reduced to a supporting role. They could even finish outside the Champions Cup places, which would be … bizarre.
7. Brive
The club with the smallest budget in the Top 14 continues to punch above its weight, thanks in no small part to Gaetan Germain. The fullback with the howitzer boot can nail a penalty from just about anywhere. Don’t be fooled into thinking Brive are a one-man team, though – they also provided young forwards Julien Le Devedec and Fabien Sanconnie to the French national side during the Six Nations. They’re part of a team that’s tough, stubborn and almost impossible to beat at home. And give away a penalty within 60m of the posts at your peril.
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8. Bordeaux
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Bordeaux were beautiful to watch. They were so attack-minded they could, in the right light, have been mistaken for a Super Rugby side. Their defence, such as it was, lived – and sometimes died spectacularly – on the unquenchable belief that they could always outscore their opponents. They were the anti-Montpellier. And everyone loved them, for all that they could not break into the all-important top six. Charming coach Raphael Ibanez was touted as the next great hope for national rugby. Then Guy Noves got the France job everyone believed was Rafa’s, and backs coach Vincent Etcheto left in something of a coup, replaced by the more muscular Emile N’Tamack. And it all went wrong. Ibanez’s star has fallen. He’s out on his ear at the end of the season. The defence is stronger, but the stodge has taken over, and unlike Montpellier, they still can’t win enough games to break into the top six.
9. Toulouse
Things aren’t quite as bad at Toulouse as they are at some other big-budget clubs in the Top 14 (*cough*Stade*cough*) – but things are far from rosy in the Rose City heading into the closing four rounds of the regular season. They looked lost against Munster in the Champions Cup quarterfinal last week, but things are even worse in the Top 14. Toulouse has never failed to reach the playoffs in their history, but they’re 10th in the league and face a tough run-in, with trips to play-off-chasing Toulon and Castres, and home matches against Racing 92 and Bayonne. The fact is the four-time European Champions could be playing Challenge Cup rugby. That last sentence would have been branded heretical as recently as last season.
10. Lyon
Perennial French yo-yo outfit Lyon escape the bottom four only by not being in the relegation zone and not being a Paris side that tried to merge with a rival. They have the sixth-largest budget of all the clubs in the Top 14, but – proof that money does not necessarily translate to success in this game – are way down in 11th place and lasted all of six games in the Challenge Cup. The LOU really should do better, but despite another massive recruitment drive after running away with the ProD2 championship, which saw them bag the likes of Freddie Michalak, Delon Armitage and Virgil Bruni, they are finding wins hard to come by, even at home. At least this time it doesn’t look as if they’re heading back down after just one season.
11. Racing 92
Deep breath… Embarrassingly bundled out of the Champions Cup. Almost but not quite out of the running for a Top 14 end-of-season playoff place, which would mean no Champions Cup rugby next season. Still playing at the historic dump that is Colombes’ Stade Yves du Manoir when they should be at their shiny new U Arena. The Johan Goosen palaver. The merger that wasn’t. Dan Carter done for drink driving. Dan Carter’s face not plastered all over the shiny new U Arena to market the shit out of the place. Dan Carter, Joe Rokococo and Juan Imhoff being investigated (and cleared) by the French anti-doping agency, before being investigated (and cleared) a second time. Brice Dulin and Yannick Nyanga also being investigated over a separate incident… and cleared. Ali Williams busted for buying cocaine. The definition of a season from hell. Oh, and one piece of silverware in the decade since billionaire Jacky Lorenzetti bought the club. The definition of a dismally low return on investment.
12. Stade Francais
Was it really only two seasons ago that Stade Francais were Top 14 champions with a side that was mostly ‘Made in France’? Hard to believe now, but yes it was. Now, they’re 12th, hemorrhaging players, and trying desperately to save some face after the horror show that was the planned merger with Racing 92. Now, president Thomas Savare is desperate to sell the club he saved from extinction only six years ago – if he can’t, Stade may go the way of the dodo. The only thing saving their season is an extended run in the Challenge Cup, but even that could be a double-edged sword. The match against Castres that was postponed during the merger farce could – court case permitting – be replayed on April 19, four days after a Top 14 match against Pau and three before the Challenge Cup semi-final against Bath.
13. Grenoble
In recent seasons, Grenoble have started their Top 14 campaigns pretty well, but collapsed in the second half of the season having, apparently, enjoyed Christmas a bit too much. This season, they didn’t bother to wait until Christmas for it all to start going wrong and began to undo their pre-season good work from the opening round.
14. Bayonne
ProD2 leaders Oyonnax have a better Top 14 power ranking than Bayonne. Hell, Bourgoin, who are about to be relegated from the ProD2, probably have a better Top 14 power ranking than Bayonne. There have been worse seasons in the French top flight – Mont de Marsan back in 2012/13, and Oyonnax last season for example – but this has been one campaign to forget for the Basque Country side.
Comments on RugbyPass
Oh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
2 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
2 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
7 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
26 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to comments