The Rugby Paper

Collazo may risk all to beat the drop

IT IS a truth universall­y accepted in French domestic rugby that the side propping up the Top 14 at Christmas is relegated at the end of the season. It is, equally, a truth that Montpellie­r have been working hard to disprove. History is in the literature-inspired aphorism’s favour. The number of sides that were 14th in the top division over the festive period that then managed to escape the gravitatio­nal pull of the ProD2 can be counted on one hand, with fingers to spare. That stark digital statistic holds, even if Stade Francais are handed a ‘get out of relegation free’ card for the Covid-19 abandoned 2019-2020 season.

We should take into account the fact the Rugby World Cup has skewed the season somewhat. Christmas is, usually, the halfway point of the Top 14 campaign, while it had reached just 10 rounds in 2023 because of the non-compete pause that shut the domestic competitio­n down for the duration of the tournament. The extra three post-Christmas weeks could well work in Montpellie­r’s favour.

It has been a dramatic season at the GGL Stadium. Richard Cockerill was sacked in November after seven matches – and six defeats. Montpellie­r were bottom of the table, two points behind Perpignan, and six adrift of the safety of 12th place.

With an entirely new and star-studded coaching staff, led by Patrice Collazo – assembled by new sporting director Bernard Laporte – Montpellie­r won their second Top 14 game of the season the Saturday before Christmas.

They were bottom of the table, two points behind Perpignan, and five adrift of the safety of 12th place. They had leaked 246 points in 10 matches.

Then, they lost their last match of 2023 to slip five points adrift of Perpignan, and eight below 12th ‘relegation-escape’ spot after 11 Top 14 weekends.

Four wins in five Top 14 matches later, Montpellie­r have among the best defensive and offensive records of any Top 14 side in 2024. They’ve conceded 95 points in five games since the turn of the year.

They climbed off the foot of the table, and out of the automatic relegation spot, last weekend when they picked up a bonus point win at Racing 92.

And they consolidat­ed that onthe-road victory with a 28-23 home win over Bayonne on Saturday – their sixth straight home success in all competitio­ns.

After their match had finished, all Montpellie­r eyes would have been on two matches elsewhere in the Top 14: the relegation dogfight between Lyon, who started the weekend in 12th, and basement side Oyonnax at Stade Gerland, and the clash between lowly Perpignan and an out-of-sorts La Rochelle, at Stade Aime Giral.

In the former, hosts Lyon pulled away in the second half to pick up a bonus-point 43-26 victory, while in the latter, Perpignan’s home fans celebrated from first whistle to last as they, too, picked up a bonus-point 27-15 win over La Rochelle.

Those results mean that Montpellie­r remain in 13th. But they’re just one point behind Perpignan and seven ahead of bottom-of-the-table Oyonnax. Safety is tantalisin­gly close.

Montpellie­r’s staff appear willing to pay a future price for the prospect of a Great Relegation Escape this season. League rules state that sides must maintain a minimum of 16 JIFF-eligible players – those who have come through certain age-grade ranks with French rugby clubs – in their matchday squads across the season.

At the end of November, Montpellie­r averaged 16.67 JIFF players per match, according to official figures. Today, with 10 matches remaining, that average has slipped to 15.5. For the match against Toulon on January 7, Montpellie­r fielded just 12 JIFF players.

In the battle for survival, it can’t be much of a surprise that Collazo and his staff would want the likes of Ben Lam, Harry Williams, Jan Serfontein, Cobus Reinach, Sam Simmonds, George Bridge, and Brandon Paenga-Amosa in the matchday ranks as often as possible. But, if Montpellie­r don’t get their average back up to 16, they face up to a six-point deduction next season. It’s a question that’s very much in the minds of the staff, attack coach Vincent Etcheto admitted to L’Equipe recently.

“It came into our discussion­s when making the team compositio­ns,” he said. “Is it better to lose points for next season or go down to ProD2?”

Right now, they’ve decided a points deduction is a problem for the future. With 10 matches left in the season, there’s still time for Montpellie­r to avoid any sanction. The longer they feel the pull of relegation, however, and the more they turn to their recognised overseas stars to keep the drop at bay, the more difficult it will get.

Ask Toulon. Last season, in an ultimately vain bid for the playoffs, they pushed the JIFF rules to the limit, then baulked and tried to catch up to avoid a future points deduction. In the end, they avoided a points deduction, but missed the top six. The big difference, of course, theirs wasn’t a fight for Top 14 survival. The stakes are, right now, higher for Montpellie­r.

Toulon’s poor run of form continued, as they lost 17-9 at Pau, extending their losing streak to three matches – and nine losses in their last 11. All Black Jack Goodhue scored his first and second tries in the Top 14, as Castres climbed to a provisiona­l third in the table with a six-tries-to-two bonus-point 41-12 win over Yannick Bru’s internatio­nals-stripped Bordeaux. Coming up for Castres, however, in the next fortnight difficult trips to Toulouse and Lyon.

Henry Arundell’s eighth try in 11 matches for Racing 92 since his return to club action after the World Cup briefly threatened to kick off a fightback for Stuart Lancaster’s side in the primetime derby against Stade Francais at La Defense Arena. But Peniasi Dakuwaqa raced the length of the pitch to score his second of the game soon after to take Stade Francais out of sight. It ended 11-27.

Tonight, Clermont, who started the weekend in eighth place, host high-flying Toulouse – still without their Six Nations’ internatio­nals, and Antoine Dupont, who’s in Vancouver for the latest round of the HSBC SVNS 2024 series – at Stade Marcel Michelin.

“Montpellie­r could break JIFF rules in their bid to avoid relegation and pay price next season”