French rugby 2023/24

[ourla]

That's a great start by Pau but I suspect they were largely unaffected by the RWC?

[Robespierre]

That's a great start by Pau but I suspect they were largely unaffected by the RWC?

Yes.

[Robespierre]

This weekend's round 6 Top14 results:

Toulon 31 Racing 26 (Henry Arundel's début and he scored 3 tries)
Toulouse 43 Perpignan 34 (31-6 at half time so Toulouse must've gone to sleep in the second half and threw away a winning bp)
Castres 39 Oyonnax 11
Lyon 32 Stade Français 36 (a good match for ex Tiger Zach Henry who kicked 21 points for SF)
Montpellier 17 Clermont 20
Pau 20 Union Bordeaux/Bègles 11
La Rochelle 18 Bayonne 15

1 Stade Français 22
2 Pau 22
3 Racing 19
4 Castres 19
5 Toulouse 18
6 Clermont 18
7 Toulon 15
8 UBB 13
9 Lyon 12
10 La Rochelle 11
11 Bayonne 10
12 Oyonnax 8
13 Montpellier 6 ( a poor start to the season for Richard Cockerell's team, and next Saturday they are away to Perpignan!!)
14 Perpignan 4

[Robespierre]

This weekend's round 7 fixtures in the Top14:

Stade Français v Racing 92 (the Parisian derby has the makings of a cracker!)

Bayonne v Pau

Perpignan v Montpellier ( a bottom of the table scrap!)

Oyonnax v Lyon

Clermont v Toulon

Castres v Stade Toulousain

La Rochelle v Bordeaux-Bègles

[Robespierre]

It's likely that Antoine Dupont will miss the forthcoming 6Nations and some of his club's fixtures as he would like to be considered for the French 7s squad in tournaments building up to and including the 2024 Olympics to be held in France.

[Robespierre]

Top14 round 7 results:

La Rochelle 25 Union Bordeaux/Bègles 21
Stade Français 9 Racing 12
Clermont 27 Toulon 30
Bayonne 35 Pau 16
Oyonnax 38 Lyon 20
Perpignan 23 Montpellier 16 (Another loss for Montpellier. Bottom of the table. Cockers sacked!)
Castres 31 Toulouse 23

1 SF 23
2 Racing 23
3 Castres 23
4 Pau 22
5 Toulon 19
6 Clermont 19
7 Toulouse 18
8 La Rochelle 15
9 Bayonne 15
10 UBB 14
11 Oyonnax 12
12 Lyon 12
13 Perpignan 8
14 Montpellier 6




Round 8 next weekend:

Toulon v Castres
Lyon v Bayonne
Montpellier v Oyonnax
Pau v SF
UBB v Perpignan
Toulouse v Clermont
Racing v La Rochelle

[ourla]

Table has a rather surprising look about it at this stage of the season.

What's gone wrong at Montpelier Robespierre?

[Robespierre]

Table has a rather surprising look about it at this stage of the season.

What's gone wrong at Montpelier Robespierre?

Yes, it does, with Toulouse, La Rochelle, Clermont & co in mid table.

Montpellier, who were Champions in 2022 have definitely gone titzup!
What's gone wrong? Difficult to say, but Cockers was the man in charge and he's been given the heave-ho, along with Jean-Baptiste Elissalde
On paper, they've got some very good players, but I'm sure they'll get a few wins and move out of the relegation zone.
Bernard Laporte's been brought in by his partner in crime, (probably true, too!) Altrad the club President as DoR and will have Patrice Collazzo as head coach, and they both have reputations as being hard-nosed, so maybe that's what's needed to turn things around. We'll see.

[sapajo]

Cockers has been sacked by Laporte within a week of him starting his Montpelier job

[Robespierre]

Cockers has been sacked by Laporte within a week of him starting his Montpelier job

I think Cockers was appointed head coach at Montpellier soon after he left the England coaching team after the 6N and began pre-season, and was sacked by Mohed Altrad the Montpellier President.
Laporte was appointed just this weekend as DoR with Patrice Collazzo replacing Cockers.

[sapajo]

Thanks for shedding more light on this

[Robespierre]

Here are the results from a high scoring round 8 of the Top14, with an average of 52 points per game:

Racing 32 La Rochelle 10 (a last-minute try by fullback Henry Arundell secured a winning bp for Racing)
Toulon 41 Castres 19
Lyon 42 Bayonne 29
Montpellier 21 Oyonnax 26 ( despite wholesale changes to the coaching staff, Montpellier lose again and remain in 14th place)
Pau 30 Stade Français 6 (A dramatic start to the season by Pau and All Black great Sam Whitelock will join them very soon!)
Bordeaux/Bègles 46 Perpignan 22 (New B/B signing Damian Penaud scored 4 tries - all in the first half!)
Toulouse 31 Clermont 10

1 Racing 28
2 Pau 27
3 Stade Français 23
4 Toulon 23
5 Castres 23
6 Toulouse 23
7 Bordeaux/Bègles 19
8 Clermont 19
9 Oyonnax 16
10 Lyon 16
11 La Rochelle 15
12 Bayonne 15
13 Perpignan 8
14 Montpellier 7

Round 9 will be played next weekend, December 2/3:

Toulon v Pau
Bayonne v Montpellier
Castres v Lyon
La Rochelle v Perpignan
Oyonnax v B/B
Clermont v Racing
SF v Toulouse

[Soggypitch]

What's happened to La Rochelle this year?

Let's hope their form continues past Jan 14th!!

[Robespierre]

What's happened to La Rochelle this year?

Let's hope their form continues past Jan 14th!!

Their form's a bit like Leicester, I'd say. They've missed their World Cup players, although critics are now saying that Danty and Atonio aren't performing up to their usual level. Gregory Alldritt, their outstanding No8, is resting and won't be available until January (probably ready for the visit of Leicester!)

[Robespierre]

Top14 round 9 results:

Stade Français 27 Toulouse 12 (I think Toulouse are really missing Ntamack at 10 and also need a better back up for Dupont, who was on the bench last night. Toulouse may well have a hard time in the Champions' Cup against Ulster and Harlequins (both away) and Bath at home.
Toulon 36 Pau 13
Bayonne 24 Montpellier 19 (Yet another defeat for Montpellier, which'll surely make Cockers smile after being sacked by them!)
Castres 29 Lyon 14
La Rochelle 35 Perpignan 6
Oyonnax 23 Bordeaux/Bègles 29
Clermont 23 Racing 18

1 Racing 29
2 Toulon 28
3 Castres 28
4 Pau 27
5 SF 27
6 Toulouse23
7 Bordeaux/Bègles 23
8 Clermont 23
9 La Rochelle 20
10 Bayonne 19
11 Oyonnax 16
12 Lyon 16
13 Perpignan 8
14 Montpellier 7

Round 10 will be played on December 22/23 after two weekends of the Champions' Cup:

Perpignan v Bayonne
B/B v Lyon
Montpellier v Castres
Racing v Oyonnax
SF v La Rochelle
Pau v Clermont
Toulouse v Toulon