'Painful Gulch' Top 14 rivals to face off in France
Paris (AFP) - Reigning French and European champions Toulon tackle their "Painful Gulch" rivals Clermont in the plum tie of the French Top 14 this weekend.
As has so often been the case over the last three seasons, they are the top two in the division, with leaders Clermont holding a three-point advantage over Toulon.
And the latter's outspoken president Mourad Boudjellal, the comic book magnate, likened Saturday's clash to the eternal rivalry of the O'Haras and O'Timmins in the fictious town of Painful Gulch in the Lucky Luke comic book series.
"With Clermont it's a bit like the Painful Gulch Rivals with O'Hara and O'Timmins. We've been enemies for years, we've got it in for one another, but with all the respect that we have for each other," said Boudjellal.
"They're always close battles with some stories to tell at the end. We'll go into it with a lot of desire, even though we're weakened."
Both sides will be without a number of key international players who will be recovering following a tough series of November tests.
The match will be played at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice to account for a bigger crowd than Toulon's 15,400-capacity Mayol stadium can hold.
Even without the missing internationals, Boudjellal expects a massive battle.
"This is the derby (the most anticipated match) of the last few seasons. Two years ago it was the European Cup final," he added.
"It's become a sort of 'Classico' between the red-and-blacks (Toulon) and the yellow-and-blues (Clermont)."
Even so, Boudjellal complained that the current country-dominated structure in rugby was penalising clubs, pointing to the fact that many big names will be missing from this top-of-the-table clash, which has also affected ticket sales as only 30,000 had been sold by the beginning of the week.
"We've got players on holiday for matches that they didn't play with us -- that's the amazing world of rugby," added Boudjellal.
"Nowadays we realise that certain players who signed on a two-year contract are only with us for eight months, not including injuries.
"According to the IRB's (now World Rugby) article 9, the players are free and available for their national teams.
He added: "It's just impossible."
Depending on what happens in that match, third placed Stade Francais could move into the top two with a victory at home to Brive on Sunday.
Many eyes, though, will be on seventh-placed Toulouse, who have recovered after a disastrous start to the season that left them in the relegation zone after seven matches.
Now they put together a run of six straight victories in all competitions.
They host Grenoble on Saturday knowing that a win will put them into the play-off positions -- they are just a point and a place below their weekend visitors in the Top 14 table.
Fourth-placed Racing Metro face a tricky trip to 2013 champions Castres, who have themselves been struggling this season and were rock bottom until beating Toulon 22-14 last time out.
They remain just a point off the foot of the table and level on points with La Rochelle in the second relegation position.
As Castres lost 41-19 when the two sides met in La Rochelle in September, they are technically in the bottom two on head-to-head record, even though they have a better points difference.
Bottom side Lyon, who like La Rochelle were promoted from the second division last season, host troubled Montpellier, who have lost four matches in a row in all competitions and saw forwards coach Mario Ledesma quit last week with the team down in eighth.
La Rochelle host perennial strugglers Bayonne while Bordeaux-Begles are at Oyonnax in other games.
Fixtures (1730 GMT unless stated):
Saturday
Toulon v Clermont (1345), Castres v Racing-Metro, La Rochelle v Bayonne, Lyon v Montpellier, Oyonnax v Bordeaux-Begles, Toulouse v Grenoble (1945)
Sunday
Stade Francais v Brive (1130)
