To confirm. This is undoubtedly what is most complicated in high performance sport. After offering the scalp of the great Stade Toulousain Last Saturday at Michelin (16-13), ASM Clermont Auvergne continues this weekend with another Top 14 heavyweight: Racing 92 at La Défense Arena in Nanterre.
A game at stake in the race for the Top 6, and therefore in the qualification for the finals. Accounting, the Auvergnats are not far from it (7th two points behind LOU). The Ile-de-France residents are sailing in troubled waters, 10th at nine lengths from the Lyonnais. Suffice to say that a defeat on this 15th day would put the sky and white in the panade and plunge them into a mini-crisis.
A wounded animal, I don’t know if it’s the best time to take it – Etienne Fourcade
Racing 92 has not moved forward for two months. Laurent Travers’ men remain on four consecutive defeats in the league (Brive, Bordeaux, Castres and Lyon). With an enchanted parenthesis in the middle of this black series: a great success in Northampton (45-14) in the Champions Cup on December 10.
For hooker Etienne Fourcade, ASM can take a break in the standings with its evening host in the event of a victory: “A wounded beast, I don’t know if this is the best time to take it. Either way, we have to play it. Either way we’re going to go there to win. They’re off the hook for now, but it can come back to the image of Castres last year, who had a good end to the season. If we will score at home and win there, they will be a little more in difficulty than now, so it’s up to us to put them in difficulty. ”
– THIERRY ZOCCOLAN / AFP
They really want to redeem themselves, it’s going to be a big trip – Cheikh Tiberghien
Same story for the back Cheikh Tiberghien who expects a strong match against Parisians under pressure: “It’s still a big Racing team anyway. They’re in a period where they don’t necessarily win, but we also lived through this period, that doesn’t mean that they are lacking in confidence. Last week they lost , but they still had a big game. We expect a trip like all the teams that go to the roots in the Arena. A big game with great intensity. There, they are not very far, so they are keen to really redeem themselves, in addition, at home. We expect a big trip, very far from easy. “
– THIERRY ZOCCOLAN / AFP
Gauge at 2,000 for the Arena
This shock of the 15th day of the Top 14 will take place in a necessarily particular context. The Arena being covered – and therefore classified in the category of theaters – it is a gauge of 2,000 people that must apply this Saturday evening. It may ring hollow in an arena that can accommodate 30,000 spectators. “It is not because they have 2,000 supporters that they will play less well”, tempers Etienne Fourcade, “I think the most important thing is to try to be consistent for 80 minutes as we were able to do against Toulouse. I think that if we manage to be consistent for 80 minutes, we will already be a good thing.”
Vahaamahina forfeit, Parra on the bench
To start the meeting, Jono Gibbes decided to start the Argentine international Tomas Lavanini back from five games of suspension, after a brutality against Ireland. On the other hand, the New Zealand technician will have to do without Sébastien Vahaamahina, hit in a thigh Thursday during the last training.
ASM will also have to do without its captain Arthur Iturria, but also Jacobus Van Tonder, injured in the back, not to mention the injuries of Peceli Yato or Alexandre Fischer. The starting point will be composed of Sébastien Bézy and Camille Lopez (who has just committed to Bayonne). Morgan Parra will be on the substitute bench.
The meeting is to be lived in full (9:05 pm) with the comments of Julien Oury on France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne.