Top14 Final 2013: Toulon vs Castres, Sat 1 June 8pm; SetantaIRL / TV5Monde

thomond2006

Toulon:
15.Delon ARMITAGE; 14.Rudi WULF, 13.Mathieu BASTAREAUD, 12.Matt GITEAU, 11.Alexis PALISSON; 10.Jonny WILKINSON (cap), 9.Frédéric MICHALAK; 7.Juan Martin FERNANDEZ LOBBE, 8.Chris MASOE, 6.Danie ROSSOUW; 5.Nick KENNEDY, 4.Bakkies BOTHA; 3.Carl HAYMAN, 2.Sébastien BRUNO, 1.Andrew SHERIDAN.

Replacements: 16.Jean-Charles ORIOLI, 17.Xavier CHIOCCI, 18.Jocelino SUTA, 19.Joe VAN NIEKERK, 20.Steffon ARMITAGE, 21.Maxime MERMOZ, 22.Sébastien TILLOUS-BORDE, 23.Davit KUBRIASHVILI.

Castres:
15. Brice DULIN; 14.Romain MARTIAL, 13.Romain CABANNES, 12.Seremaia BAI, 11, Marc ANDREU; 10.Rémi TALES (cap), 9.Rory KOCKOTT; 7.Yannick CABALLERO, 8.Antonie CLAASSEN, 6.Ibrahim DIARRA; 5.Rodrigo CAPO ORTEGA, 4.Christophe SAMSON; 3.Karena WIHONGI, 2.Brice MACH, 1.Saimone TAUMOEPEAU.

Replacements: 16.Mathieu BONELLO, 17.Yannick FORESTIER, 18.Iosefa TEKORI, 19.Jan BORNMAN, 20.Romain TEULET, 21.Daniel KIRKPATRICK, 22.Paul BONNEFOND, 23.Mihaita LAZAR.

Castres finally make a Top14 final following a couple of exits at the semi-final stage. Toulon are league finalists for a second consecutive year.

This should be a bruising encounter, both sides boast very strong packs and an excellent goalkicker. I'd be surprised if this is an open game with plenty of tries!

TheGoldenAges

Good to see Castres in the final, although it would have been an exciting prospect to have a heineken cup final rematch it'll hopefully be a good spectacle

tolosenc

Allez Castres !

No way can Leinster over the last few seasons fail to do the double, only for this Toulon team to succeed. That's just a load of crap.

vienne86

tolosenc wrote: »

Allez Castres !

No way can Leinster over the last few seasons fail to do the double, only for this Toulon team to succeed. That's just a load of crap.

I was going to watch this match as a neutral.......I hadn't thought of this....oh yes.............C'MON CASTRES!!!!!

matthew8

tolosenc wrote: »

Allez Castres !

No way can Leinster over the last few seasons fail to do the double, only for this Toulon team to succeed. That's just a load of crap.

Where does this myth that Toulon are not that good/worthy of trophies come from? They're clearly very good and have brilliant players.

Go Castres anyway though.

thomond2006

Allez Toulon Allez Toulon Alllllez

Allez Toulon Allez Toulon Allllez

jamiedav2011

matthew8 wrote: »

Where does this myth that Toulon are not that good/worthy of trophies come from? They're clearly very good and have brilliant players.

Go Castres anyway though.

Being good and being worthy of trophies are mutually exclusive in some sense though.

irishbucsfan

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Being good and being worthy of trophies are mutually exclusive in some sense though.

Interesting concept, explain?

garbanzo

I'd normally be shouting for Castres here as the underdog but for an encounter on holidays in France last year. The nice little man in the pizza shack on the side of the road outside our campsite saw me in my Leinster jersey and commented "..ahh, Leinster..un bon club". He then went out the back of this shack and took out a red and black Toulon RFC flag and said this was a great team too and next year they would be champions. The bastard was right too :-( All this while turning out some damn fine pizzas in jig time.

Many French clubs have a great history and these guys seem to have one too. Love the Pilou Pilou before their matches in Stade Mayol, check it out on YouTube if you've not seen. Wonder will they do it in Stade de France this eve, think they did it in Twickenham in the HCup Semi?

ScrubsfanChris

Bump for kick off

If you are an eircom customer -> http://eircomsports.eircom.net/Setanta/

ScrubsfanChris

3-0 Toulon

totallegend

"Michalak threw an absolute bag of cabbage there"

Wtf?

ScrubsfanChris

totallegend wrote: »

"Michalak threw an absolute bag of cabbage there"

Wtf?

Never heard this guy comment before, is he a Setanta regular?

3-3 now

Roanmore

Is the Refcam a new thing?

ScrubsfanChris

What a try! (for Castres)

10 - 3 half-time

Roanmore

Try in injury time for Castres under the posts, 10 - 3

Taco Corp

Roanmore wrote: »

Is the Refcam a new thing?

started with Super 15 earlier in the year and now the Sky and the French are copying the idea.

That's a lovely try for Castre. and the perfect time to get it too

Paulw

The Refcam was also used in the RaboDirect Pro12 final, and the Amlin challenge cup final.

Great try there just before half time. Castre looking decent.

P_1

Great try from kockett can't see a casters win though

Judgement Day

Poor fare in the first half save for the Castres try. Toulon look tired and where was the defence? Hope Jonny changes his boots during the break.

OldRio

Watching on a french stream. School french coming back, amazing.
Couple of thoughts. Very intense of course, Breakdown is crucial of course,
But some terrible kicking esp by Castres.
Enjoyable.

A2LUE42

Tv5monde is on filmon tv for anyone looking for a stream or wants to watch on the phone.

PJ Maybe

Roanmore wrote: »

Is the Refcam a new thing?

Since March. Was in S15 for a few weeks before it was used up here. Interesting that there seems to be 3 different setups for it, the one used in Top 14, the one in S15 and the one in Heineken cup\ Amlin.

Close match but I'm enjoying it so far. Thought the tennis might overrun but Djokovic wrapped it up just in time.

Nice try to finish the first half but not a fan of the head patting Kockett was doing before it.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Toulon have been tired and Castres have been poor enough. There have been four or five absolute terrible kicks by Castres.

matthew8

TV5 monde are 15 minutes behind for some reason. Nice try for Kockott.

ScrubsfanChris

Shades of the Lions match earlier with all the handing errors.

totallegend

Don't think I've ever seen a scrum-half counter-ruck like that. Castres are going to be a shadow of themselves once Kockott leaves.

OldRio

Delon gets a bit of a reaction when he touches the ball.

pickarooney

OldRio wrote: »

Delon gets a bit of a reaction when he touches the ball.

He seems to thrive on it

totallegend

pickarooney wrote: »

He seems to thrive on it

Was just thinking that, the Castres fans would probably be better off keeping quiet.

ScrubsfanChris

Toulon's handling is terrible...