Top 14 Barrage Preview

Castres vs Montpellier

The Top 14 barrage will kick-off shortly with the first of two knock-out matches being taking place in France. Today´s match sees Castres play host to Montpellier in what is a rematch of last seasons barrage encounter in which Martín Bustos Moyano booted Montpellier into a first ever Top 14 Semi Final. Ther one time capped Argentine winger will start the match on the left wing, retaining the goalkicking duties and will be joined by four other Pumas with Juan Figallo starting at loosehead prop and Santiago Fernández at inside centre, just like they did 12 months ago. The trio will be joined by another Pumas forward and a back in the starting XV with Lucas González Amorosino playing fullback and Agustín Creevy playing hooker. The form of all five players has been impressive this season and all will feature for Los Pumas in The Rugby Championship. A sixth Argentine player, Maximilano Bustos is also on the Montpellier card, as a replacement. He is uncapped despite having been a part of the Argentine squad at New Zealand 2011. The opposition, Castres, do not have any Pumas but do have a South American with Uruguay´s Rodrigo Capó Ortega on the bench.

Toulon vs Racing Métro

The second barrage play-off match will be played on Saturday with Toulon playing host to Racing Métro. Both sides will have Pumas players with Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe starting at 8 for Toulon and to other Juan´s starting for the Paris based opposition. Pulling the strings at flyhalf will be Juan Martín Hernández who has been impvoing this season after a slow start and wil be joined by a player who 21 months ago was an unknown, Juan Imhoff. The young speedster will play on the left wing while former Pumas backrower, Alvaro Galindo has been named on the bench.

Amorosino vs Bosch

Bosch (left) and González Amorosino (21) will face over in France tonight

Round 25 of the Top14 kicks off latter on today in France with last years finalists, Montpellier playing host to Biarritz at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir. It is a key match for the home side who despite being in the top four are not yet guaranteed a play in the barrage play-off´s. Montpellier are six points ahead of Stade Français who are in seventh place but the all-Paris battle at the Stade de France on Saturday could well shake things up ahead of the final round which sees Montpellier play away vs Toulouse. Biarritz also have a tough final match, at home vs Stade Français and the away match today vs Montpellier can only be viewed as a must win encounter due to the clubs position in the standings - five points ahead of Bayonne and Brive as well as two points ahead of Bordeaux and Perpignan. The bottom team will be departing to the Pro d2 alongside Lyon. 

Aside from today´s match having a lot of importance it is also going to be an extremely interesting one for Pumas followers as it offers a rare match-up of Lucas González Amorosino vs Marcelo Bosch. For the first time ever the two Pumas backs will go head-to-head at fullback for their respective French clubs. González Amorosino has been Montepllier´s fullback all season and is entereing the match as the form fullback in the Top 14. Bosch has been used at 13 and 10 for Biarritz this season and will start at 15 for the first time since 2009 when he was in good form in the position for Biarritz before having his season ended in October of that year with a serious knee injury.

The Pumas pair will be joined by fellow Argentine players on both sides with Santiago Fernández returning frmo a knock-out he suffered vs Clermont on April 20. Martín Bustos Moyano has also recovered from a minor injury to start on the left wing and will be the teams goalkicker. Up front Juan Figallo and Agustín Creevy will start in the frontrow while Maximilano Bustos is on the bench. Figallo will be facing a potential Pumas prop in the making with Francisco Goméz Kodela starting at tighthead prop for Biarritz.

Montpellier
15 González Amorosino
14 Nagusa
13 Doumayrou
12 Fernández
11 Bustos Moyano
10 Trinh-Duc

9 Tomas

8 Tulou

7 Gorgodze

6 Ouedraogo

5 Privat

4 Hancke

3 Jgenti

2 Creevy

1 Figallo

Biarritz

15 Bosch

14 Ngwenya

13 Gimenez

12 Traille

11 Baby

10 Peyrelongue

9 Lesgourgues

8 Gray

7 Lakafia

6 Lauret

5 Taele

4 Thion

3 Goméz Kodela

2 August

1 Barcella

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Santiago Fernández

November 22, 2008 was a date that no Pumas fan had wished for. It was Argentina facing Ireland at Croke Park without both its flyhalves and its third choice player too. Having been named to start, Juan Martín Hernández had to withdraw from playing one hour before kickoff. Felipe Contepomi had been ruled out of the match with an infection in his arm, while Marcelo Bosch had undergone shoulder reconstruction surgery and was unavaliable. In place of these three European professionals Argentina gave a first ever test start to 22 year old Santiago Fernández. He was a promising player, based in Buenos Aires playing for the Hindú club. He had made his international debut one week earlier vs Italy in Los Pumas´ 22-14 win in Torino. Headcoach Santiago Phelan had brought in on in the late stages to get some game time and he played on the wing. 

Fernández was a part of the PladAR system at the time of his debut for Los Pumas. He had been identified as a player of the future and in May 2009 he played in Los Jaguares´ home series matches vs Namibia. It was not his first time playing for the Argentina A side, however, as he had made his first appearance in 2007 playing in the IRB Nations Cup in Romania where he took on Italy A, Namibia and South Africa A. Around the same time that Los Jaguares were playing Namibia, Felipe Contepomi was playing for Leinster vs Munster in the Heineken Cup Semi Final. Contepomi started the match strongly but injured his knee badly and was forced to undergo surgery. As such, Argentina would not be able to field the 10-12 combination of Hernández and Contepomi at all in 2009. Phelan selected Miguel Avramovic at 12 to face England in Manchester with Fernández on the bench. The following week, Phelan made changes after Argentina had been badly beaten, and he went for the 10-12 combination of Hernández and Fernández. Los Pumas´s win in Salta that day was a defining moment in the transition from Rugby World Cup 2007 to 2011. From the 2007 team only Hernández and Horacio Agulla remained in the backline. Gonzalo Camacho and Lucas González Amorosino were new comers to the team with Agulla playing at fullback. It was also the final test for Rimas Alvarez Kairellis.

Fernández vs Wales, 2009

The changes for the June series proved to be beneficial for November 2009 when Argentina faced an nothing less than an injury crisis in the backs. Contepomi had not recovered from injury yet while Bosch had returned to play fullback for Biarritz only to badly injury his knee and require reconstruction surgery. Hernández was also forced out, with a back injury he picked up playing in South Africa that required surgery. This saw Santiago Fernández moving from 12 to 10 where he started in a new combination with the uncapped Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga for Argentina´s tour of England, Wales and Scotland. The pair played the full 80 minutes of the three tests despite both being amateur players. The lack of international experience didn´t stop Argentina collecting a narrow in at Murrayfield. The match underlined both players as ones for the future. 

The following year saw the creation of Los Pampas XV and the teams involvement in South Africa´s Vodacom Cup. Before the season had started Fernández had been rumoured to being offered a deal to play Super Rugby for either the Stormers in South Africa or the Western Force in Australia. Neither rumour proved to be true but following his involvement in the Vodacom Cup he was signed on a two year deal for Montpellier to play in the French Top 14 in May 2010. The following month he was starting at inside centre for Los Pumas with Felipe Contepomi back from injury playing flyhalf and Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga playing fullback. Signs were positive as Argentina scored its biggest ever win over France. The same combination would go on to be used for Argentina´s November tour of Europe with Fernández starting vs Italy and France at inside centre. He was rested, however, for the test vs Ireland.

Fernández scores for Montpellier

In the meantime Fernández was a starter for a team making plenty of headlines in France, Montpellier. Fernández´s arrival for the 2010-2011 season had been to give the club depth as François Trinh-Duc needed a solid deputy. Within no time, however, Fernández was the clubs starting inside centre and his constant game time has seen him improve as a player. He has been used at flyhalf on occassion, when Trinh-Duc has not been avaliable and has proven to be a solid option for the club. Fernández at 12 was a tryscorer in Montpellier´s history making Semi Final triumph over Racing Métro last season. The teams success involved Fernández and two other Pumas - Martín Bustos Moyano and Juan Figallo. The 2011-2012 season has been just as good for Fernández with him again playing plenty of rugby, usually in the 12 shirt but also playing 10 and doing a good job in place of Trinh-Duc.

Following Rugby World Cup 2011 the team´s Argentine players has doubled from three to six with Agustín Creevy, Maximilano Bustos and Lucas González Amorosino all joining and playing regularly. The six players are all likely to feature in The Rugby Championship with Santiago Fernández looking a certainty for the match day 22 to, in the least, be wearing the teams number 21 shirt. The most logical scenario is for Fernández to play 12 outside Juan Martín Fernández but the form of Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga at 12 for Stade Français gives Santiago Phelan the luxury of having more quality options than ever before.

Week One: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week Two: Lucas González Amorosino

Week Three: Marcelo Bosch

Week Four: Agustín Creevy

Week Five: Juan Martín Hernández 
Week Six: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week Seven: Leonardo Senatore

Week Eight: Rodrigo Roncero
Week Nine: Gonzalo Camacho
Week Ten: Patricio Albacete
Week Eleven: Horacio Agulla
Week Twelve: Juan Figallo
Week Thirteen: Santiago Fernández
Week Fourteen: Tomás Cubelli

The Rugby Championship Players To Watch - Juan Figallo

Following the retirement of Omar Hasan in 2008 Argentina were left with a massive burden that some felt could not possibly be filled. New Pumas headcoach, Santiago Phelan named two new props in his squad for Argentina´s November tour that year. They were Juan Orlandi and Juan Figallo. Orlandi was playing his rugby in Italy for Rovigo and he was considered by Argentine assistant coach and Rugby World Cup 1999 and 2003 prop Mauricio Reggiardo as being a player of real potential. Orlandi´s chance came in the first test of the November tour when he started vs France at tighthead prop. His performances were not to the level of Hasan or the injuured Martín Scelzo but he, nevertheless, impressed enough to attract the interest of Top 14 club Racing Métro. The Parisian club signed him for the 2009-2010 season and he remains at the club today. His place in Los Pumas, however, proved to not be long term as he lost the Pumas tighthead position in June 2009 and has been unable to win it back. Phelan did not select Orlandi for Rugby World Cup 2011 instead opting for the youthful pair of Juan Figallo and Maximilano Bustos to join the experienced trio of Rodrigo Roncero, Martín Scelzo and Marcos Ayerza. 

The same season that Orlandi joined Racing Métro was also the same time that Figallo joined Montpellier to also play at the elite level in France. Figallo had toured Europe in November with Los Pumas but had been selected as a young player, aged only 21 and did not recieve any game time. Phelan had picked the young Salta prop as he saw great potential in him but did not think the timing was correct for him to play at the senior level. He would, infact, have to wait 24 months to make his test debut as he was injured for the November 2009 tour of Europe and therefore missed out altogether. His debut came vs France from the bench in Argentina´s record breaking 41-13 victory vs France. He then featured vs Italy and France in November 2010, again both times from the bench. Debuting vs France is not a normal thing as while Figallo debuted vs France, virtually all other Pumas made their first appearances vs South American opposition. 

Figallo at loosehead prop for Montpellier

With Phelan leaving out Orlandi from Argentina´s World Cup squad it came as a surprize to many to see five props named. Orlandi had been seen as a bench player and a possibility to start vs Romania and Georgia at tighthead prop. Phelan had other ideas and he shocked many people by naming Figallo at tighthead prop to face Wales in Argentina´s only official warm-up match before Rugby World Cup 2011. Figallo was starting for Argentina for the first time ever and it was Argentina´s last match before taking on England to open the World Cup campaign for both teams. Figallo´s selection was not such a surprize, howver, to followers of French rugby. His inclusion in the starting XV was welcomed but it did have an unexpected side to it as he had been used all season for Montpellier at loosehead prop. Figallo was a key player for Montpellier in the teams history making appearance in the Top 14 Final last season. He went up against the highly regarded Samoan prop, Census Johnson in the frontrow. The 130KG monster was on the backfoot, however as Figallo controlled the scrums and also ahd a highly visible performance around the park. He recieved plenty of praise from the French media and live commentary during the final. 

Figallo, Ledesma and Roncero

The result was that he had gone ahead of veteran 35 year old Martín Scelzo and had earned Argentina´s #3 shirt. In New Zealand 2011 he proved to be the right choice as he lived up to the reputation of being a Pumas tighthead prop and made the #3 shirt his own. Figallo  packed down in the frontrow with the veteran pair of Rodrigo Roncero at looshead prop and Mario Ledesma at hooker. Figallo won the award for being the best player from Pool B in the World Cup and started every match of the World Cup for Argentina. He stood out in the scrums and on defence. He also came within an inch of scoring a try vs England. Had he scored, Argentina would have gone on to win the match. The following week he went over for a try vs Romania, his first in international rugby. 

With Argentina set to play twelve tests in 2012 and debut in The Rugby Championship the skills of Figallo will become more known than ever before. His physique is ideal for a tighthead prop and he has the potential to really stand out and deliver for his country. Teams facing Argentina who are not strong in the frontrow could suffer greatly with Australia appearing to be such an example as the Wallabies continue to lack players of quality at both loosehead and tighthead prop. Figallo is now likely to lead Argentina forward together with Marcos Ayerza and Agustín Creevy as the new look frontrow. 

Week One: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week Two: Lucas González Amorosino

Week Three: Marcelo Bosch

Week Four: Agustín Creevy

Week Five: Juan Martín Hernández 
Week Six: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week Seven: Leonardo Senatore

Week Eight: Rodrigo Roncero
Week Nine: Gonzalo Camacho
Week Ten: Patricio Albacete
Week Eleven: Horacio Agulla
Week Twelve: Juan Figallo
Week Thirteen: Santiago Fernández

French Top 14 - Round 22 Wrap

Imhoff certain to be the Pumas 11

Racing Métro 27-16 Castres

Racing Métro put in a strong performance in Paris in Friday´s only match to move back into the play-off´s zone and see Castres fall from 4th to 5th in the standings. With no Heineken Cup matches remaining this season, Racing Métro´s chances of a place in the play-off´s are all that much better as the club will be able to have fresh legs for its remaining Top 14 season matches. Moreover, all four remaining matches are against teams lower in the standings. The win over Castres featured four Pumas players as Juan Martin Hernández pulled the strings from flyhalf in playing an open brand of rugby. He succeeded in putting players into space, something that will be key for Argentine rugby this year in The Rugby Championship. The impressive Juan Imhoff again had a solid match on the left wing, scoring a secondhalf try and regularly getting past his man. Both players played the full 80 minutes while Juan Orlandi started at at tighthead prop, playing the first hour. As he left Alvaro Galindo entered as he played in the backrow for the final quarter of the match. His return to Los Pumas will be key this season with Argentina have a packed schedule which includes a record twelve test matches. 

Figuerola looking like a Puma again

Brive 14-9 Toulon
A major upset sees Brive´s chances of relegation have all but vanish entirely while Toulon´s impressive secondhalf performance from last weekend vs Racing Métro was nowhere to be seen. Brive are now eight points clear of 13th place and should the club win its home match vs Bordeaux-Begles on May 04th the club will all but certainly remain in France´s Top Flight. Scrumhalf, Agustín Figuerola started and played 75 minutes as he continues his push for Argentina´s 9 shirt despite not being selected for Rugby World Cup 2011. Former Pumas prop, Pablo Henn came on for Brive as a replacement in the 58th minute. Leonardo Senatore played the fullmatch in the backrow for the visitors. 

Perpignan 47-9 Bayonne

Two teams fighting it out for survival saw Welsh international, James Hook find good form as he scored 25 points to destory Bayonne who are now walking a tight rope with relegation increasingly looking certain. The visitors were totally outclassed and lacked ideas as the teams high profile players including All Blacks Joe Rokocoko, Neemia Tialata and Troy Flavell, Wales´ Mike Phillips and France´ Cedric Heymans are yet to gel and the chance of it happening is highly remote. 

Leguizamón maturing by the year

Lyon 24-13 Bordeaux
A vital in keeps Lyon´s dream of surviving in the Top 14 Orange alive. It is a tough challenge as, despite winning, Lyon are ten points behind Perpignan, eleven behind Biarritz and Bordeaux and twelve behind Agen and Brive. Lyon need to get ahead of one of these teams and hope Bayoone continue to lose matches.  It is, however, certainly a possibility as Lyon has games against Montpellier, Bayonne, Perpignan and Toulon remaining. It needs to target three wins and should be strong for both home matches - Bayonne and Toulon. The match vs Toulon could well see a weak Toulon side as it is in the final round of the Top 14 and, Toulon will have already secured its place in the play-offs. In Lyon OU´s win over Bordeaux-Begles, Santiago del Estero´s most famous product, Juan Manuel Leguizamón played the full 80 minutes in the backrow while Rafael Carballo continued his push for a recall to Los Pumas as he played the full match on the wing for Bordeaux-Begles. Flyhalf Nicolás Sánchez remains on the sidelines injured. 

Montpellier 44-18 Agen

L.G.A now Argentina´s leading fullback

The fantastic form of Lucas González Amorosino just continues as the man used so poorly by the Leicester Tigers scored another good try for Montpellier. Playing the full match at fullback, González Amorosino continued his outstanding combination with Martín Bustos Moyano in the back-three. Bustos Moyano had another good day himself to show his crentials as possibly Argentina´s best goalkicker. He converted all five of Montpellier´s tries and landed three penalties and scored a try of his own in scoring 24 points. The man charged wtih replacing Mario Ledesma, Agustín Creevy started and played 74 minutes at hooker. Maxiliano Bustos played the final seven minutes at prop while inside centre, Santiago Fernández came on in the 46th minute. Agen´s Belisario Agulla played on the right wing. 

Biarritz 15-14 Clermont

Guiñazú could yet be a Puma in 2012

No longer in danger of being relegated, Biarritz completed a major coup d´ tat in defeating the second placed Clermont Auvergne by a single point. The win puts Biarritz seven points clear of the relegation zone and with Biarritz playing Bayonne next round, on April 14th, a win would all but confirm Biarritz´s survival regardless of how it goes in the other remaining Top 14 Orange matches. Surprizingly, Eusebio Guiñazú was Biarritz´s starting hooker and got plenty of game time. He was joined in the frontrow by uncapped tighthead prop, Francisco Gomez Kodela who played 24 minutes. Centre Marcelo Bosch was also on the bench and came on in the 65th minute. Secondrower Manuel Carizza did not feature. Clermont´s Canadian enforcer, Jamie Cudmore featured for the visitors from the bench.

Stade Français 18-22 Toulouse

Vergallo´s 9 position is under threat

Toulouse go clear of Clermont to hold a four point lead in the competition with their away win at the Stade de France. The result also means Stade Français fall outside of the barrage zone, but just a sinlge point behind Paris rivals, Racing Métro and a further point behind Castres. On form both Paris teams should make the play-off´s with Castres missing out. Stade Français´ 10-12 Pumas combination of Felipe Contepomi and Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga remains intact with the players former the playing combination for the full 80 minutes and Contepomi landing 12 points. Veteran Pumas loosehead prop Rodrigo Roncero started in the number 1 shirt and played 75 minutes. A potential Pumas prop of the future, Francisco Nahuel Tetaz, entered the match with 12 minutes remaining while Sergio Parrise played the full match in the backrow and scored a disallowed try. The USA´s Scott LaValla was unsued from the bench. Pumas scrumhalf, Nicolás Vergallo played 15 minutes as a replacement for Toulouse and looked solid despite lacking game time. Secondrower, Patricio Albacete was rested by Toulouse while Gonzalo Tiesi is expected to return shortly for the Parisians.

Racing Métro vs Castres

RM 92 v CO - Le résumé en vidéo por racingmetro92

Brive vs Toulon


Perpignan vs Bayonne

Résumé du match USAP Bayonne Avril 2012 por USAP_Communication


Montpellier vs Agen

Interviews d'après match : MHR-Agen por MontpellierRugby

Biarritz vs Clermont

BO-ASM : Le Résumé por asm

Top 14 Orange Standings
1 Toulouse 78
2 Clermont 74
3 Toulon 63
4 Montpellier 57
5 Castres 55
6 Racing Métro 54
7 Stade Français 53
8 Agen 42
9 Brive 42
10 Biarritz 41
11 Bordeaux 41
12 Perpignan 40
13 Bayonne 34
14 Lyon 30

* Play-offs and Heineken Cup Qualification
* Facing relegation

Fernández - Bustos Moyano - González Amorosino Try vs Castres

Last weekend Montpellier was defeated by Castres in an away Top 14 Orange match. The result means Castres go ahead of Montpellier on the table but changes little for either side as neither are likely to catch the top two sides of Toulouse and Clermont and will, therefore, play in the barrage round of the French Top 14 play-offs should they finish in the top six. Castres' win was stereotypical with the home side getting home thanks to its goalkicking while Montpellier continued to show a lot of flair with the team looking more solid than last year when it finished second after appearing in the Top 14 Semi Finals and Final for the first time in history.

One player who has contributed significantly to the club's season is Los Pumas' fullback, Lucas González Amorosino who has had many in France calling him the best 15 in the country. His try vs Castres last Saturday, his fifth of the Top 14, was another featuring lightening pace as he was too fast for the French speedster, Marc Andreu. The try was a piece of Pumas brilliance as Santiago Fernández, playing at inside centre chased through an up-and-under, caught it and passed it to a third Argentine player, right winger Martín Bustos Moyano. The number 14 stepped inside a tackler and opened up space down the right-hand touchline as he drew the first Castres defender before passing it to González Amorosino who ran 40 metres to score. All three players have been regular starters for Montpellier all season and all will feature for Los Pumas in 2012.