The beasts will be released.
Finally, say the supporters of the fourteen clubs on the starting line of a necessarily special season since it will lead to a World Cup, which is more in France.
The excitement is great, therefore.
At the height of uncertainty.
Because, more than two months after the coronation of Montpellier (the first in its history), the list of contenders for the legendary Brennus shield, on June 17, 2023 at the Stade de France, is denser than ever, against a backdrop of duplicates with the XV of France, which level the forces present.
“That's the beauty of this Top 14, with ten teams claiming to be in the six,”
summarizes Philippe Saint-André.
The boss of the MHR, however, does not despair of repeating the performance.
“We are no longer here to celebrate the title, but to try to keep it.
We have a new status, which we must accept and digest.
We know the complexity of the championship and we know that we will be the team to beat.
It is up to us to be up to it…”
To discover
Schedule and Top 14 results
Ranking Top 14
It will be necessary to extinguish the ambitions of Stade Toulousain.
Champion of France and Europe a year ago, the club of Antoine Dupont had to say goodbye to its two crowns.
This is enough to measure their spirit of revenge and their determination.
As, in addition, President Didier Lacroix has recruited heavyweights with the back of the XV of France Melvyn Jaminet, the young prodigy of Italy Ange Capuozzo or the promising center Pierre-Louis Barassi, the Toulouse firepower seems inexhaustible .
Another (very) ambitious, Stade Rochelais.
The Maritimes created a sensation last May by winning the prestigious Champions Cup.
Emperor of Europe but not yet King of France.
The displayed objective.
They too have hit hard on the transfer market.
stand out
Three favorites and many outsiders.
The eye-catching Castres, unfortunate and undefeated finalists at home since November 2020. And a straight flush of revenge: Bordeaux-Bègles, Racing 92, Lyon, Toulon and Clermont, the big winners of last season.
So it's going to jostle at the gate.
With, for the major players, the additional motivation to highlight themselves to hope to be part of the 33 Blues chosen by Fabien Galthié for the World Cup at the end of this furious tussle.
Read also
Top 14: Woki, Jaminet, Parra, Thomas, headliners of a lively transfer window
For the others – Stade Français, Pau, Brive, Perpignan and the promoted Bayonne – it will be complicated to get involved in the final fight.
For them, the stakes are likely to be even more distressing: to avoid the disappointment of relegation to Pro D2.
With some former recruits for these survival missions: Morgan Parra, who left Clermont after thirteen seasons of loyalty to put on the pink jersey of Paris, or the hinge of the (dark) years 2010 of the XV of France, Maxime Machenaud (ex-Racing 92 ) and Camille Lopez (ex-Clermont), who came to reinforce Aviron bayonnais.
