It’s time to change the batteries in your calculator. The last day of Top 14, Sunday June 5 (multiplex at 9:05 p.m.), is full of high-stakes matches, at all levels. Apart from Stade Français, Pau and Biarritz, all the teams are under the pressure of a decisive final match. Who will finish in the first two places, directly qualifying for the semi-finals? What will be the posters of the dams, opposing the 3rd to the 6th and the 4th to the 5th? Who will play a stressful play-off with the Pro D2 finalist?
The race for the semi-finals: three-way match between Montpellier, Bordeaux-Bègles and Castres
The first two places should, except surprise, be played between Montpellier, Bordeaux-Bègles and Castres. La Rochelle (4th, 67 points) is mathematically in the game, but the Maritimes must win with the bonus in Lyon and expect dry defeats from UBB and CO. Despite their third place, the Tarnais (72 points) seem to be the best off, with a trip to Palois whose season is already over.
Last day of the championship this weekend against the @SectionPaloise ! #TeamCO #All together pic.twitter.com/h233b4ykEB
– Castres Olympique (@CastresRugby) May 30, 2022
For Montpellier and Bordeaux-Bègles, it’s a different story. The Héraultais (1st, 73 units) go to Clermont, still in the running for qualification, when the Girondins (2nd, 72 points) move to Perpignan in the fight to maintain. In the event of a tie in the standings, the UBB will take over its two adversaries. Castres will appear ahead of Montpellier for the benefit of “field points”.
The race for the dams: Toulon in ambush, Racing on the carpet?
The loser of this three-way match for the semi-finals will have to go through the play-off box. The remaining three places will be played between six teams, in a thrilling final. To top it all off, two direct confrontations will serve as real “eighth finals”. Winner of the Challenge Cup, Lyon (8th, 63 points) must imperatively win against the winner of the “big” European Cup, La Rochelle (4th, 67 units). And still, a victory might not be enough. To avoid any calculation, you need a bonus success… without leaving a point to the Maritimes.
The LOU, winner of the Challenge Cup, receives this Sunday (9 p.m.) the Stade Rochelais, winner of the Champions Cup. Prestige match, more than decisive!
— LOU Rugby (@LeLOURugby) May 30, 2022
At the same time, Racing 92 (5th, 66 points) receives Toulon (7th, 64 units). The data is much simpler: the winner will be, whatever happens, in the Top 6. Even beaten in the Challenge Cup final, the Varois, launched in a series of six consecutive victories in the Top 14, will have the fangs. The prospect of a first season without final stages since their comeback in 2009-2010 is real for the Ile-de-France residents.
>> Find the updated ranking of the Top 14
One rank behind, the Toulouse champion (6th with 66 points) occupies a precarious position from which he should easily extricate himself. The Stade receives demobilized Biarrots because they are guaranteed to finish last and therefore to be relegated. An improved victory would allow him to see a play-off at home. Finally, Clermont (9th with 62 units) retains a tiny hope. But it would take an improbable combination of circumstances to imagine ASM, struggling with Montpellier, climbing into the Top 6. The Jaunards will still be aiming for a victory to finish in the top eight and qualify for the Champions Cup, for the last by Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez at Michelin.
The maintenance race: distance duel between Brive and Perpignan
The equation is simpler to avoid 13th place, synonymous with a barrage for the loser of the Pro D2 final (between Mont-de-Marsan and Bayonne, Sunday at 5:45 p.m.). For the moment, Perpignan (39 points) occupies this rank. To avoid staying there, Usap will have to beat UBB, in search of a semi-finalist place. It will also be necessary to count on a misstep from Brive (42 points), traveling to a French stadium already on vacation.
For this final trip of the season, the Corrézienne fervor meets at the Jean-Bouin stadium.
3⃣ buses are already ready, get ready to take a seat in the following ones
Registration on the CentpourCent Coujous Facebook page #WEARECAB pic.twitter.com/gDfCwDvTDQ
— CABCLRUGBY (@CABCLRUGBY) May 25, 2022
But the CAB has never triumphed outside its bases and remains on four defeats in a row. An improved defeat could still be enough for the Corréziens, who would keep their hand in the event of a “simple” Catalan victory. They dominate the direct confrontations (36-15, 10-27).