Stade Francais will consider handing a debut to Wallabies great George Smith against Agen this weekend as French Top 14 rugby action heats up in the lead-in to the semi-finals.
Smith has arrived in Paris fresh from winning the Japanese championship with the Suntory Sungoliaths and could be given a start by Stade’s Australian coach Michael Cheika as the Parisian side look to nail down their top-six play-off spot.
With five weeks left in the regular season, another former Wallaby, Matt Giteau, is also in the thick of the action, with his Toulon side occupying third place on 58 points, trailing ladder-leaders Toulouse (73) and Clermont (69).
Giteau and Toulon this week face a tough test against Paris side Racing-Metro, who are currently in sixth place and are in a position to secure a finals berth.
Stade will face Agen at the 25,000-capacity MMArena in Le Mans, with Cheika welcoming back a raft of internationals after Six Nations duty as well as welcoming 31-year-old Smith.
“It’s a very important match for the team,” said Stade’s Italian No.8 Sergio Parisse.
“It will count for a lot, against Agen, who are just behind us in the table.
“There’s no choice: we have to take away the points. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a lot of points this season, above all playing away. We’re not allowed to lose.”
Toulon’s title ambitions suffered a blow on Thursday after sporting director Bernard Laporte was hit with a 60-day ban by the French National Rugby League (LNR).
The former France coach was punished for comments made about the standard of refereeing after his team’s 22-22 draw against Perpignan in a March 10 league clash, as well as the previous match they won 19-6 against Montpellier.
Laporte will join outspoken club president Mourad Boudjellal on the sidelines, the Toulon owner already serving a 130-day ban after using lurid language to describe the level of refereeing against Clermont on January 8, on the sidelines.
Friday’s game sees Bordeaux-Begles seeking to consolidate their midtable position at home against Toulouse.
Other matches on Saturday feature Montpellier travelling to Castres, Clermont hosting Perpignan, bottom-placed Lyon at home to Biarritz, and relegation-threatened Bayonne entertaining Brive.
Former France assistant coach Didier Retiere is convinced Racing are up to the task against Toulon.
Retiere, recently installed as a consultant for Racing’s forwards, said the side was in the process of putting a string of defeats behind it and was confident of finishing the season in style.
“It’s true that there were a series of losses and that brought a bit of trouble in relations,” said Retiere, one of Marc Lievremont’s assistants during the World Cup.
“Personally I’ve found a group of players who stick together and want to perform, and a staff who want to do the utmost no matter what.
“We know this championship is long and demanding, we see it with teams that are, between brackets, more modest who manage to upset bigger teams at home.
“Racing has been there but I think the team is in the process of rebuilding itself, coming together and reinvigorating itself.
“We can finish the season on a very interesting result.”