Will the French Teams Turn Up? | EPCR Round 3

Our favourite game to play when the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup roll round is to ask the question “Will the French Teams Turn Up?” We kind of started doing this on The Rosbifs Rugby Podcast as a playful joke, based on the age-old tropes about the French national side and the attitude of some of the country’s club sides to the European competitions. However, in this, The Season of the Team Selection, the question has become much more pertinent, and actually slightly sinister. What with the two competitions facing something of an existential crisis thanks to a number of blowouts in the first couple of rounds, scrutiny over the team announcements has intensified significantly.

While there are no guarantees over whether the Top 14 sides will fire on the day, here is your guide to which teams have put out strong sides, who the form players are, and a few lesser-known names to look out for…

Friday

Castres (vs Bath (Home), Friday 8pm) - all times GMT

A fascinating fixture in the most intriguing of pools, with all six teams on one win each. Bath sit top, and have sent a strong side knowing that a win would put them in pole position to progress as top seeds for Pool 2. So here’s what to know about this Castres team:

• About as strong as they can go right now (gone are the days of them throwing in the towel in Europe), but they are missing three of their best best players: Uruguayan scrum-half Santi Arata, Samoa No. 8 Abraham Papali’i, and Fijian centre Vilimoni Botitu who has been in sensational form over the last month or so

• Fellow Fijian international Vuate Karawalevu is a cracking replacement for Botitu though, and has started to show what he’s capable of in recent weeks

• First choice front row, with their absolute best scrummaging props Quentin Walcker & Will Collier

• The back five of the pack is typical of Castres - plenty of bulk, great lineout athletes and loads of work rate. Tyler Ardron is in great form, Tom Staniforth could have a huge impact off the bench

• Look out for Théo Chabouni. 22 year-old is an exciting counter-attacker

This game could go either way because Castres have the ability to neutralise Bath’s physicality, and Toulon showed that they are beatable if you can do this.

ASM Clermont Auvergne (vs Glasgow (Home), Saturday 3.15pm)

Like Bath, Glasgow Warriors travel to France as pool leaders and eyeing up top seeding. However, unlike Castres, Clermont haven’t shown any sort of form in the Champions Cup so far. On paper, the teams they selected in the first two rounds were pretty good, but their performances were terrible. They followed those by losing to Perpignan (the first Top 14 team to do so this season), but have won both their games since Christmas. Clermont are becoming a tough team to predict, but here’s what we think of this selection:

• Incredibly young (but very capable) front row. Average age is 23. Barnabé Massa has started to show his true potential this season.

• First choice fly half Harry Plummer has been one of the signings of the season in the Top 14, but its Clermont’s 3rd and 4th choice scrum halves: 21 year old Lucas Zamora, and 20 year old Dutchman Niek Doornenbal is in line for his first ever game for Clermont

• Back row is full strength and has great ballast from in-form Tolofua and Sowakula

• Centre pairing is about as physical as it gets - Moala vs Tuipolotu will be seismic

• Axel Guillaud is an exciting young player and one of the youngest to have played in the Top 14 this season

Glasgow should have enough if they perform anywhere near their best.

Saturday

La Rochelle (vs Leinster (Away), Saturday 5.30pm)

While this was one of the great rivalries for a number of years in the Champions Cup, La Rochelle have been pretty poor in recent seasons, as age and injuries have caught up with them. They are still capable of pulling a top performance out the bag, and nothing fires up Ronan O’Gara more than Leinster, as you can tell from his team selection for this one:

• First choice props play together for only the second time this season, and the first time this season that their legendary right hand side scrummaging unit of Atonio and Skelton have played together. It seems 20 year old Charles Kanté Samba is now first choice as the loosehead lock in the absence of Paul Boudehent

• That back row is obviously full of quality, but it isn’t a given that they will fire, all three have struggled to consistently hit their best form this season

• Le Garrec has been the spark for them this season, and most of the good stuff in attack comes through him, or the experienced heads Lleyds and West - Niniashvili has yet to do anything truly outrageous in a La Rochelle jersey

• 20 year-old centre Simeli Daunivucu has bags of talent. He is still quite raw, but has started to show the maturity to piece his game together

This team selection is probably the strongest La Rochelle have (been able to) put out this season, and makes us reconsider our previous assessment that Leinster should win by at least 15 points. That said, La Rochelle have a poor away record, so as good as they look on paper, you’d still expect Leinster to win with something to spare.

Bayonne (vs Leicester Tigers (Away), Saturday 8pm)

Bayonne have been probably the worst offenders in terms of team selection in the Champions Cup this season. What’s more, a near-full strength Bayonne got thumped 62-22 away at Montpellier last week in a game you’d have expected to be close. There are also suggestions of some unrest within the coaching set up. Given all of that, it is unsurprising that Bayonne have selected another understrength side:

• Only Iturria, Tuilagi and Tom Spring are out and out nailed on starters

• Pyrénées Boyle-Tiatia and Gabriel Lapègue make their first ever starts for Bayonne

• A number of players have only featured and/or started in the Champions Cup

• Fijian 19 year old Emosi Tumania is in line for his debut

In other words, this should be about as guaranteed a bonus point win as Leicester could have in the Champions Cup this season, they should use it to rack up as many points as possible.

Pau (vs Scarlets (Away), Saturday 8pm)

Pau are the other team that have been putting out significantly understrength sides in the Champions Cup. At least Section Paloise can point to their league position as justification for this policy, albeit they missed out on a chance to regain top spot with a frustrating loss away at Lyon last weekend. For their trip to Llanelli, Pau have picked a marginally stronger team than the one that faced Bristol in December:

• Again, there are only a handful of players who are out and out first choice players

• Pau rotate their front row quite a lot, so it can be hard to tell who is first choice. The options here, both starting and on the bench, are capable first team players, but realistically make up 2nd and 3rd choice in the depth chart.

• Similarly, Jolmès and Capelli have played a lot this season, but they are the 2nd choice pairing. Jolmès has had a return to form, and the Pau lineout works very well.

• The backrow might not have the X factor of some of Pau’s options has plenty of workrate and ball carrying ability, and they could be the area where Pau get an edge - although the bench options of Iosefo and Taulili-Pelesea are in line for their 1st & 4th appearances for Pau respectively. No doubt Carwyn Tuipolotu will want to put in a performance against his former club.

• Théo Attissogbe makes his first start since picking up an injury back in September. He is a generational talent and is likely to be the best player on the pitch. He alone could be enough for Pau to pick up an away win

• The other electric player in that back three is Gregoire Arfeuil who is having a wonderful season (10 tries in 12 games), and Pau use his kick chase ability as a genuine attacking weapon

This is by no means a full strength Section Paloise line up, but with Scarlets struggles this season, it could be strong enough to pick up an away win.

Sunday

Sunday promises to be a cracking day of rugby, and arguably the best of the pool stage. It features the three Top 14 sides that are taking the tournament most seriously this season, and they are all facing previous winners. All three have picked blockbuster sides.

Toulon (vs Munster (Home), Sunday 1pm)

It feels like Toulon are targeting the Champions Cup this season, and could go top of the pool with a win. Their starting XV doesn’t get too much stronger than this:

• Baptiste Serin is the only main absentee, but Ben White is obviously a fantastic replacement

• White partners Tomas Albonorz, making his first start since joining after a very weird mid-season transfer saga. Paolo Garbisi, who has found his best form this season since joining Toulon, has to make do with a bench spot.

• Gros, Baubigny and Sinckler is arguably the best all-round front row in the Top 14 - and you could easily say the same about the second row with their two titanic talismans Ribbans and Ollivon

• Three incredibly talented young back three players: Dréan is rapid and a supreme finisher, Domon is a silky counter attacker who’s good under the high ball, and Ferté is genuinely a combination of the two

• Plenty of heft off the bench too: Priso and Alainu’uese have been two of the best impact subs in the Top 14 this season

It’s a bit of a cliché but write Munster off at your peril. Nevertheless, this Toulon side should be targeting a bonus point win having already done so against Bath.

Union Bordeaux Bègles (vs Northampton Saints (Home), Sunday 3.15pm)

The Big Rematch! Expect a raucous crowd (the biggest home crowd in France) and a fair amount of niggle thanks to the events of last year’s final. The Champions have hit some red-hot form over the last month or so, and tore Racing 92 apart in a second-half blitz last week. Here’s what to look out for this week:

• Injuries to Maxime Lucu and Romain Buros are the only big absentees for UBB. In Page-Relo and Rayasi though, they have two internationals coming in for them, and two players that provide plenty of spark of their own.

• It is hard to put in to words just how good the form of Matthieu Jalibert is right now. He was Player of the Match in both of the first two rounds of this competition, as he was last week. Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Nicolas Depoortère are in frightening form, while Moefana has come straight back to his best form despite not playing until December

• UBB have opted for bulk in the selection of their pack with Cazeaux favoured over Palu and Jean-Luc Du Preez favoured over Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer. They sacrifice a bit in the lineout with that selection - and lineout is probably the weakest area of UBB’s game

• Temo Matiu has started to fulfill his potential at no.8. He’s relishing his role as primary ball carrier, and has added more power. He is a fantastic athlete.

• The bench is where UBB have the edge - it is fearsome. Palu and Vergnes-Taillefer are in excellent form, but Rohan Janse van Rensburg has been brilliant at Bordeaux, and then obviously there is Big Ben.

Should be another thriller between these two, but don’t be surprised to see UBB come away with a bonus-point win.

Toulouse (vs Saracens (Away), Sunday 5.30pm)

Toulouse need a win, and they need a big one. Last year, finishing second in the pool to UBB ended up hampering them when they got to the semi-finals, and they will be eager to try and get that top seeding having slipped up against Glasgow. The result is that we have Toulouse as strong as they can be:

• Ntamack misses out with injury and they tend to favour Kinghorn at 10 with Ramos staying at full back. It doesn’t really matter who is wearing what number though - outside of Dupont, Ramos is the main man driving that backline

• No Francois Cros still, but other than that its a full strength back five of the pack and a 6-2 split with three excellent young options in Brennan, Elias and Banos on the bench.

• Costes gets the nod over the talented Kalvin Gourgues as partner to the robust, key cog in that backline Chocobares

• Lebel returns from injury. First game since November.

• Mauvaka on the bench (only his second appearance this season). Young props Bertrand and Mallez (already capped) will be pushing for inclusion in France’s 6 Nations squad

This team has more than enough to beat this current iteration of Saracens. They should get the four tries they are looking for, but the win is no guarantee: Sarries are so tough to beat at home and they have plenty of star quality of their own - they just need it all to click on the day.

Challenge Cup

Perpignan (vs Newcastle Red Bulls (Away), Saturday 1pm) rest many of their star players from last week’s win over Toulouse, but there is still plenty of talent. Posolo Tuilagi’s return to the bench catches the eye, and the talented Hugo Reus gets a chance to stake his claim for the 10 jersey. Stade Français (vs Exeter Chiefs (Home), Saturday 1pm) have maximum points so far and have picked a team with a similar feel to their previous two Challenge Cup wins. Even against a first choice Exeter pack, they may be too strong up front - could be a cracking game. Montauban (vs Black Lion (Home), Saturday 1pm) have a chance of picking up their first win since October against a Black Lion side looking for their first ever win in the tournament. However, it is a largely second-string side, with the high-class exceptions of Vaea Fifita, Jérôme Bosviel and Segundo Tuculet.

Lyon (vs Lions (Away), Saturday 3.15pm) are somehow winless in this tournament, but pick a relatively strong side for the long trip to Johannesburg. There’s plenty of Top 14 quality there, but it is largely second choice. Look out for 17 year-old back row Lilian Baret off the bench. Racing 92 (vs Cardiff (Away), Saturday 5.15pm) take the opportunity to rest their key men such as Josua Tuisova, Ugo Seunes, Nathan Hughes, and Guram Gogichashvili. Junior Kpoku is the obvious young-gun to look out for.

Montpellier (vs Connacht (Home), Sunday 1pm) are another team with maximum points so far. They have built some proper squad depth this season, so there is plenty of quality even without star men like Lenni Nouchi, Billy Vunipola and Ali Price. Stuart Hogg has been very good at 10 whenever he has played, Alex Masibaka (another Scot) provides plenty of dynamic ball carrying, and it is a formidable tight-five.