Toulouse diminished in La Rochelle
Stade Toulousain has decided to rest its three executives Antoine Dupont, Julien Marchand and Anthony Jelonch for the match in La Rochelle this Saturday in the Top 14.
The clash between the last two winners of the Champions Cup is played without three major players. The Toulousains Antoine Dupont, Julien Marchand and Anthony Jelonch are indeed on vacation this week and will therefore miss the call for this match of the 15th day of Top 14 against La Rochelle this Saturday at 9:05 p.m. Last week, three other French internationals, Romain Ntamack, Peato Mauvaka and Mathis Lebel, were left to rest for the match at Clermont on New Year’s Eve. This had also forced Antoine Dupont to play for the position 10, but that hadn’t posed the slightest problem for the Rouge et Noir, winners in Auvergne for the first time in twenty years in the Top 14, with the offensive bonus . Toulouse manager Ugo Mola has implemented this group of three rotation system, and so he should be with a full squad for the two Champions Cup matches at Sale and against Munster on January 14 and 22. The coach can afford, because the Toulouse infirmary is currently almost empty, only Jack Willis, Ange Capuozzo, Pita Ahki and Thibaud Flament being injured, while Thomas Ramos is suspended.
Will La Rochelle benefit from it?
It now remains in La Rochelle to take advantage of these major absences. Les Rochelais occupy third place in the standings, twelve points behind the Rouge et Noir and five points behind second-placed Stade Français. Toulouse is in any case guaranteed to remain at the top of the Top 14 at the end of the 15th day. But we know that it is in February-March, during the doubling due to the 6 Nations Tournament, that the Haut-Garonne suffer and perhaps lose a little lead. They therefore have every interest in taking the maximum number of points during January, even with absentees, however excellent they may be.