<div align="center"> </div> <div align="center"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Top 14 Opening Season Analysis</span></div> No introduction, let's get right to the thick of it. The talk of the league has been Toulouse, not surprising when considering a few factors. For one, the club already had a powerful assortment of players with International quality before signing Byron Kelleher (among others). Second, they are undefeated early into the season. Lastly, and most notably, their past always come into play. Remember that this club has won the most Heineken Cups and Top 14 titles. However, their so-called "early return to dominance" is quite over hyped even though the team they currently have is great. Here are some things to think about. Jean-Baptiste Élissalde and Byron Kelleher on the same team is not a long-term solution for success. One of them has to go and considering the abilities of Élissalde and that he is a French talent, I don't think Kelleher is going to win this down the stretch. he should head off to a club that requires his abilities, which are very valuable. The Top 14 season is only a few matches in and Toulouse haven't had much competition. Barely defeating a promoted Rugby Pro D2 side in round one, dominating the troubled Stade Français and Biarritz Olympique and defeating a severely defense-starved Albi side? That's not much to go nuts about, especially looking at the first round against Dax. Their offensive numbers should dwindle in the coming weeks, not drastically, but don't expect any defensive mishaps. Their defense has always been one of the top three or four in France, that is no surprise and will obviously continue to work for them. Their lines are always well balanced. Stade Français won last season's Top 14 without much of a hassle. This season they've lost a few players and have failed to regain some strength. Sure, they are still a great club, but they are no longer a dominant side and will have more problems down the stretch of the season. They're torn between preparing themselves more for European Heineken Cup glory and defending the domestic Top 14. This cannot stand as it will rip apart their morale. For French clubs, the Top 14 always seems more important, but this is Paris after all. Parisians are always seeking to be different then the rest and their sporting clubs often do the same. Biarritz Olympique have been troubled since last season's final half. This season they have brought back their problems and they've worsened. The once dominating French club, having won three of the past six Top 14 titles, seems to be falling apart in front of our eyes. What is going wrong? It is obvious that age is showing for some of their players and for others they just can't seem to find the right connection with one another. Morale seems to be low at the Aguilera and tactics aren't exactly in the right place. Time for a change? Perhaps not. Scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili is injured and as captain and their top kicker he is certainly the most vital part of the team. I believe Patrice Lagisquet will allow the players time to adapt instead of tearing apart the roster so quickly, which would further damage poor morale. Remember that four of their players are still lagging on a dismal World Cup ending performance as well. Despite their below average performances they're still sitting in third place in the standings. Clermont have to win this season. Their disappointing past results demands it and they have gained so much strength during the off-season. Oddly, enough, it seems that this club is suffering from a rather slow start as well, even though they are third in the Top 14. They should be performing better, especially on offense. They were the best offensive team last season in the Top 14, which is what led them into the final against Paris. I expect a turnaround to push them towards the top of the table in the coming weeks. Bourgoin may have lost star 8 Julien Bonnaire over the Summer, but they have definitely proved many of their skeptics wrong so far, including myself. Instead of dropping off and struggling to stay within the top half they have placed themselves in sixth position early and are looking to increase their position with solid play and new young players. To those of you that don't know, this club is surprisingly well known for producing great talent. It is early, but I think we can look at Bourgoin to be at a comfortable top seven finish this season as per usual. Looking good so far: Montauban, Montpellier and Toulouse Look out for: Bayonne More or less?: Biarritz, Clermont and Stade Français Somewhere in the middle: Albi, Bourgoin, Castres and Perpignan Very disappointing so far: Auch, Brive, and Dax <div align="center"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Rugby Pro D2: A Quick Look</span></div> Is there any surprise which teams are sitting at the top of the table this early? Not really. Toulon have won the league? Not so fast my friends! Mont-de-Marsan and Agen are having a quiet, but stellar opening to their season and should compete through the season for the guaranteed promotion slot. Both teams have slightly better defensive numbers then Toulon, but aren't even close to matching their major competitor's offensive crunch. Are these the only three competing heavily though? Not by any means. Don't forget about La Rochelle. They may be a small club, but like Bourgoin has produced a number of great players in French history including arguably the country's current best scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Élissalde. They were competitive for promotion last season and only fell in the final match to Dax. Racing Métro 92 should also be within the top five down the stretch. They have signed numerous players including Sireli Bobo, Carlo Festuccia and Agustín Pichot to help their push for promotion. So far they've been playing fairly well, but will have to better themselves on defense if they want to move up in this very competitive second division. Other teams to look out for are Grenoble, Pau, Béziers and Narbonne. Grenoble have made a flying start to their season. Last time around they were at the bottom struggling to stay alive. They have made some changes during the summer and obviously these moves have paid off already. I have yet to see them in action this season and I'm growing impatient. Pau are past Challenge Cup winners and will be looking to regain a spot in the Top 14. In my opinion though they will need more time to move up over the other teams, but should finish fairly strong and contend next season for promotion with their great youth after they've matured a bit more. Béziers and Narbonne should be playing better at this early stage, but the season has a long way to go before we can count them out. The only club in a hole is Blagnac, who have nearly an all amateur talent team. They played well in Fédérale 1 last season, but struggled down the stretch and with such horrible play this early I can't see them crawling back to stay alive. They've been a major disaster on defense along with Tarbes. Tarbes should finish somewhere between 9 and 12 this season though. They have the talent to keep themselves afloat through a long season. Here's hoping for Lannemezan to gain promotion to Rugby Pro D2 to rekindle the two cities' heated rivarly! <div align="center"> VS </div> To those of you unfamiliar with this, past three-time Top 14 champions Stadoceste Tarbais merged with the original Lannemezan to create a powerhouse club years ago. The club was named Lannemezan Tarbes Hautes-Pyrénées, LT65 for short. It failed and the club severed ties with the town of Lannemezan to rename itself Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby. Lannemezan's club was reinvented a year later and dominated back from the lowest depths of amateur French rugby to compete in Fédérale 1, the highest ranked amateur division of French Rugby Union in a short amount of time. It has quietly become a great rugby story. If Lannemezan are to succeed in gaining promotion you can bet Tarbes won't be looking forward to the first derby day! Looking good so far: Aurillac, Grenoble, Mont-de-Marsan and Toulon Look out for: Agen, La Rochelle and Racing Métro More or less?: Béziers, Lyon, Narbonne and Pau Somewhere in the middle: Limoges, Oyonnax and Union Bordeaux-Bègles Very disappointing so far: Blagnac and Tarbes Hopefully you've enjoyed my analysis and short bits of info here and there. I'd like to end with my predictions for the two teams gaining promotion to Rugby Pro D2 next season. Colomiers are dominating in Fédérale 1 and Lannemezan are right behind them in the same group (5). I expect both to make it up unless they face one another before the final. Looking forward to the next write-up later into the season.
