Toulon ride Michalak's absence for Clermont in Top 14

PARIS (AFP) –

RC Toulon’s British fly-half Jonny Wilkinson kicks the ball during their French Top 14 rugby union match against Bayonne, on October 27, at Toulon’s Mayol stadium. Toulon clash with Clermont in a top-of-the-table Top 14 match on Saturdday, on a weekend which sees many teams in the French elite division shorn of players away on international duty.

Toulon clash with Clermont in a top-of-the-table Top 14 match on a weekend which sees many teams in the French elite division shorn of players away on international duty.

Toulon will be missing playmaker Frederic Michalak and centre Maxime Mermoz for the trip to Clermont’s Stade Marcel-Michelin, but can still boast the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Giteau, David Smith and Mathieu Bastareaud in their backline.

Up front it is a similar story for the Toulon side, with England veteran Simon Shaw and All Blacks Carl Hayman and Chris Masoe all present for duty.

“It’s the 11th match of the season, and the last before a break, nothing but that,” said Toulon coach Bernard Laporte.

Shaw said it was a “chance” for him to get off warming the bench and play.

“It’s a good opportunity for me,” he said, the 39-year-old likely to form a maturing lock partnership with Springbok enforcer Bakkies Botha.

Clermont sit five points adrift of Toulon’s 41 points, and coach Vern Cotter said his squad were “excited to come up against a team that has done the best so far this season and wanted to produce a great game of rugby”.

Agen’s Junior Pelesasa (L), seen here in action with Clermont’s Daniel Kotze, Thomas Domingo (C) and Julien Pierre (R) during their French Top 14 rugby union match, on November 1, in Agen. Clermont play Toulon next, at home, on Saturday.

“The battle up front will undoubtedly be the key element of this match. I’ve felt since the start of the week a big desire from all the boys to find solutions and work for one another to be able to allow us to be raring to go come Saturday.”

In other matches on Saturday, Parisian clubs Stade Francais and Racing-Metro are both at home, hosting Agen and winless bottom-of-the-table Mont-de-Marsan respectively.

Biarritz entertain Perpignan, Castres travel to Bordeau-Begles, and Bayonne are away to Grenoble.

On Friday, Toulouse climbed a place to second on the strength of 27-9 win over Montpellier to bring to an end the south coast club’s five match winning streak.

A total of 13 players missed the opening match of this weekend’s Top 14 action due to the first batch of the autumn tests in Europe or injury – nine missing for Toulouse and four for the hosts.

The win moved Toulouse up to 38 points, three shy of the leaders Toulon.

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Saturday

Clermont v Toulon (1400), Stade Francais v Agen, Racing Metro v Mont-de-Marsan (both 1600), Biarritz v Perpignan, Bordeaux-Begles v Castres, Grenoble v Bayonne (all 1730)