Final week and all to play for in Top 8

This season’s Top 8 looks like being one of the closest ever. With one week to go we still do not know who will be relegated, or which team will to the league, and only two of the four play-off places are confirmed.

Champions Lille go into the final week in poll position, however, after a 44-0 demolition of Caen, who could still fall through the relegation trapdoor, Lille dominating all aspects of the game.  Lille win also guaranteed their place in the play-offs**.

For Caen it sets up a relegation show-down for the final weekend when they travel to Clermont to face Romagnat, who remain four points behind them after a 60-5 drubbing at Rennes – a win that puts Rennes in the vital fourth place - but with no certainty of a play-off place.

Rennes are up against Montpellier and Toulouse for two remaining spaces – and those two met last weekend in a vital game in Toulouse. The home team took an early lead with a converted try inside the first five minutes, and lead 7-3 at halftime, but Montpellier kept the pressure on, whittled the lead down to 7-6 shortly after the restart and then scored the vital try that was to win them the game in the final quarter.

That 11-7 win pushes Montpellier into third – but they can still be overhauled by both Rennes and Toulouse, and their final game is a near quarter-final at home to Rennes.

Toulouse – after a great start to the season – have now slipped into fifth and must beat BSORF (by three tries) in the Touloussian derby game next weekend. BSORF themselves confirmed their play-off place with a 23-10 win in the capital against Bobigny, but will still be looking for a win that might see them finish in the top spot, with the better semi-final draw that provides.

**There have been some suggestions that the new leadership of the FFR may take the league back to being a Top 10… in which case the whole “relegation battle” could be academic.

Final weekend fixtures:

Romagnat v Caen

BSORF v Toulouse

Montpellier v Rennes

Lille v Bobigny

Top of Form

CLUB

P

W

D

L

PD

BP

PTS

1

LILLE METROPOLE RC VILLENEUVOIS

13

11

0

2

145

4

48

2

BLAGNAC SAINT ORENS RUGBY FEMININ

13

10

0

3

218

6

46

3

MONTPELLIER R C

13

9

0

4

216

8

44

4

STADE RENNAIS RUGBY

13

9

0

4

96

5

41

5

STADE TOULOUSAIN RUGBY FEMININ

13

8

0

5

103

7

39

6

A C BOBIGNY 93 RUGBY

13

2

0

11

-120

5

13

7

L OVALIE CAENNAISE

13

2

0

11

-299

2

10

8

A S M ROMAGNAT RUGBY FÉMININ

13

1

0

12

-359

2

6

Bottom of Form