The final game of the 2017/18 European club season takes place on Saturday evening as Montpellier and Castres go head-to-head at the Stade de France.
Vern Cotter’s men were ominously good in the last four, overcoming Lyon, who had beaten Toulon in the barrages, 40-14 at the Groupama Stadium. Everything was in good working order, with the pack dominant and half-backs Ruan Pienaar and Aaron Cruden in superb form.
The quality – or the experience – of the team is not in doubt, but this will be their first final since 2011, while a French championship has proven elusive for a club which is well backed by Mohed Altrad.
Bringing in Cotter has done the trick, however, and despite a slightly inconsistent end to the campaign, particularly away from home, they were comfortably the best team throughout the regular season.
They finished top of the table and were unstoppable in the semi-finals, leading to many thinking that this will be the time Montpellier ends their barren streak and finally claims a domestic trophy.
With a forward unit that contains the Du Plessis brothers, Bismarck and Jannie, Paul Willemse and Louis Picamoles, it certainly does not lack size and athleticism, while the backline is similarly potent. Wing Nemani Nadolo is one of the most feared players in world rugby and Pienaar, Cruden and Frans Steyn provide plenty of quality in the decision-making positions.
Star-studded is not something you could label Castres comparatively speaking, who are well coached, resilient and hard-nosed, and all those qualities have been on show during the play-off stages.
Having finished in sixth position in the Top 14, they have endured a much harder route through, beating Toulouse at the Stade Ernest-Wallon before narrowly overcoming Racing 92 in the semi-finals.
Some may question how they did it, especially in last week’s game which saw the Parisians spurn a number of opportunities, but their superb run has been indicative of the culture and game plan boss Christophe Urios has built.
Of course, it is not the case of the prince against the pauper – many in Europe would no doubt like to trade financial positions with Castres – but they are certainly not in the bracket of Toulouse, Toulon, Racing or Saturday’s opponents.
Urios’ charges have simply played at their best. Although the Pienaar-Cruden axis stands out on paper, Rory Kockott and Benjamin Urdapilleta have been no less impressive this season and were vital in the victory over Racing.
The scrum is also a hugely effective weapon and the battle between the two front-rows, in a competition which tends to be more attritional than the PRO14 or Premiership, will have a huge bearing on the end result.
Either way, it will be a wonderful story for the victor. For Montpellier, it would be their first ever title but for Castres it would be a remarkable result for a club most had written off going into the play-offs.
The teams:
Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Frans Steyn, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles (c), 7 Kelian Galletier, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Gregory Fichten, 18 Jarrad Hoeata, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Enzo Sanga, 21 Henry Immelman, 22 Joe Tomane, 23 Davit Kubriashvili
Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Armand Batlle, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 11 David Smith, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega (c), 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Maama Vaipulu, 20 Steve Mafi, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Florian Vialelle, 23 Paea Fa’anunu
Date: Saturday, June 2
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 20:45 local (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Jerome Garces
Assistant referees: Romain Poite, Laurent Cardona
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin
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