Top 14 Preview: Round 24
Under pressure: Dimitri Szarzewski returns for Stade Français as does David Skrela
The race for the play-offs is in full swing as defending champions Stade Français host this season's surprise package - Castres Olympique - in Paris in the highlight of the weekend.
Clermont face the perilous journey to Montauban where the home club await the championship leaders in their intimidating fortress, Sapiac.
While Dax and Albi anxiously await a decision concerning Albi's appeal against their demotion on account of their irregular accountancy, Biarritz are clutching at straws in the hope of making the semi-finals.
Toulouse and Perpignan have a busy period ahead of them as they each have to play three matches in nine days.
Fixtures:
Friday May 30
Auch v Perpignan
Brive v Stade Toulousain
Saturday, May 31
Stade Français v Castres Olympique
Biarritz Olympique v Bourgoin
Dax v Montpellier
Montauban v Clermont
Albi v Bayonne
Tuesday June 3 (From Round 23)
Perpignan v Stade Toulousain
Table after Round 23 (Toulouse and Perpignan have a game in hand)
1 Clermont Auvergne 90
2 Stade Toulousain 81
3 Stade Français 70
4 Perpignan 62
5 Castres Olympique 61
6 Biarritz Olympique 59
7 Montauban 54
8 Bourgoin 48
9 Bayonne 48
10 Montpellier 48
11 Albi 42
12 Brive 41
13 Dax 34
14 Auch 19
Previews:
Brive v Toulouse
Stade Amedée-Domenech, Brive, 21:00 (19:00 GMT)
A week after their heart-breaking narrow defeat in the Heineken Cup Final, Toulouse will attempt to get their Top 14 campaign back to top speed when they travel to Brive. Coach Guy Novès has altered his team somewhat but it remains very strong as all Toulouse's eggs are now in the Top 14 basket.
Although already qualified for the semi-finals, the former champions have spoken of a need to regain their confidence before the play-offs.
Loose forward Thierry Dusautoir has sprained his knee and will not make the journey while young wing Yves Donguy will start on the bench with Cédric Heymans playing at full-back.
Florian Fritz and Alberto Vernet-Basualdo, who were on the bench in Cardiff but were not used, have made the starting XV as has Omar Hasan. Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde will continue in his role as fly-half outside Bryon Kelleher.
"We've got another marathon ahead of us with midweek matches. We're going to be cooked by the time we get to the semi-finals. I'm not being a cry baby, I'm simply stating the facts. Once again we're going to be victims of our success," said Cédric Heymans after their loss in Cardiff last Saturday.
Brive are twelfth and have a seven-point cushion between them and Dax. Having won only two of their last ten matches the Corréziens need to pick up a few points over the next few weeks to cement their place amongst France's elite.
Despite being away from home, it's very hard to imagine any other result than a comprehensive win for Toulouse.
Referee: David Rosich
Touch judges: Claude Tajan, Daniel Jeanguiot
Assessor: Daniel Irazoqui
Television match official: Jean-Claude Levrier
Auch v Perpignan
Stade du Moulias - Patrice Brocas, Auch, 19:00 (17:00 GMT)
Perpignan should be feeling fresh after 15 days off thanks to their match against Toulouse being delayed due to European commitments.
They'll need to be fresh because four days after travelling to Auch they will host the losing Heineken Cup finalists in the second of their three matches in nine days.
Auch will be hoping the Catalans will be a bit rusty and will be looking to repeat their upset of Stade Français last week against another of the 'big boys'.
Perpignan are sitting in the fourth place on the table but are only one point clear of Castres and just three ahead of Biarritz, so a spot in the semi-finals is still far from guaranteed.
They are thus almost obliged to bring a bonus point victory back from their visit to the Gers region. That seems a tough ask given Auch's performance last week and the fact that the Catalans only managed a 28-23 win at home the last time the teams met.
The visitors will be without Springbok Percy Montgomery who is in South Africa preparing for the Tests against Wales. If Perpignan don't make the semi-finals the bleach-blond full-back won't pull a Perpignan jersey on again as he has signed a one-year contract with Western Province.
Referee: Romain Poite
Touch judges: Patrick Dellac, Jacques Laplace
Assessor: Richard Senssac
Television match official: Daniel Gillet
Biarritz v Bourgoin
Parc des Sports d'Aguilera, Biarritz, 17:30 (15:30 GMT)
Biarritz still believe they can make the semi-finals, and it's not outside of the realms of possibility. But they'll have to produce a very special final three weeks of rugby against Bourgoin, Stade Français and Castres.
Considering Stade's hopeless form at the moment and the facts that Castres- their direct rivals - must travel to Biarritz in the last round and Perpignan have a fairly tough run-in, the Basques might not be completely out of the running. But they certainly need a lot of "ifs" to work out for them.
Centre Damian Traille has assured Biarritz fans that the squad are as concentrated as ever after their first win in five games. Their is no doubt the former champions have players to be worth a semi-final spot, they just need to combine their efforts into a coherent attack - something they have struggled to do on many an occasion this season.
Traille is injured and won't play, and French international scrum-half Dimitri Yachvilli has been demoted to the bench.
Before they can even think of all the loose ends of their semi-final possibilities, Biarritz must turn the tables on a Bourgoin side that beat them 35-15 three months ago.
At first glance that seems a tough task until you consider that the Basques will be at home at Aguilera where they thumped Montpellier 20-0 last week and that Bourgoin's season has been less than spectacular.
Les Berjellians have won just three times in their last eleven outings, with all three successes coming against clubs in the bottom three on the table at the time.
Bourgoin suffered a severe blow on Wednesday when French international prop France Olivier Milloud snapped his Achilles tendon, sidelining him for six months. Wing Anthony Forest's season is also over after tearing knee ligaments against Albi last week.
Referee: Cédric Marchat
Touch judges: Jean-Paul Vermande, Denis Grenouillet
Assessor: Michel Roger
Television match official: Daniel Dartigeas
Dax v Montpellier
Maurice Boyau, Dax, 17:30 (15:30 GMT)
Dax have confirmed that they have recruited Italy full-back David Bortolussi as well as his Montpellier team-mate, lock Michaël Bert. Both have signed for two years. They will still be wearing blue jumpers when they visit les Landes on Saturday though.
This is a must win game for Montpellier if they hope to qualify for the European Cup and they will be decidedly interested in the result of Montauban's game against Clermont.
Dax are still fighting for their Top 14 lives since Albi's appeal against their demotion is still under consideration. If that appeal is successful Dax will find themselves in a very uncomfortable position.
Referee: Hervé Dubes
Touch judges: Frédéric Ducatez, Christophe Malterre
Assessor: Christian Zidel
Television match official: Serge Marzullo
Montauban v Clermont
Sapiac, Montauban, 20:30 (18:30 GMT)
Clermont will travel to Montauban without eight of their internationals: Mario Ledesma, Brock James, Gonzalo Canale, Benoît Baby and Julien Bonnaire will all be rested while Marius Joubert, Pierre Mignoni and Jamie Cudmore are injured. News is good however for Alex King, Elvis Vermeulen and Martin Scelzo who return from the infirmerie.
In beating Bayonne last weekend, Montauban have retained seventh position on the table and are on course for Heineken Cup qualification. This weekend will be an iron test of their ambitions. Their awesome home form against a weakened Clermont side should make for an intriguing encounter.
Canadian international centre Ryan Smith who arrived in Montauban during the 2005/200 season as a medical joker has announced his intention to leave the club.
Clermont have announced the signing of Kiwi prop Simms Davison from the Chiefs. The deal was made on the condition that Davison not take part in the Tri-Nations. Former France and Clermont centre Tony Marsh is also on his way back to the club. The New Zealand born cancer survivor will return to the club as a fitness coach.
Referee: Jean-Pierre Matheu
Touch judges: Fernand Pereira, René Bordeneuve
Assessor: Jean-Paul Grellety
Television match official: Jean-Christophe Gastou
Stade Français v Castres
Jean Bouin, Paris, 17:30 (15:30 GMT)
Stade Français's form is in freefall. Embarrassing defeats to minnows Brive and Auch have done nothing for their confidence. The Parisians spent most of the week in Saint-Lary in the Pyrenees - far away from photographers, journalists and fans - where they hope to get their ducks in a row.
"We've been lying to ourselves. This week is going to allow us to say certain things, to review what's not going right, to pull us together," scrum-half Jérôme Fillol told Midi Olympique.
Good news for the defending champions is that Dimitri Szarzewski and Arnaud Marchois have been cleared of any wrong doing in the incident that saw Bourgoin hooker Jean-Philippe Genevois receive a 70-day suspension for his head-butt on Szarzewski.
More good news sees the return of Pascal Papé, David Skrela and Szarzewski. Juan Martin Hernandez is a non-starter however.
Loose forward Mauro Bergamasco is also back. After having his 13 week ban for eye gouging during the Six Nations extended to 17 weeks by the LNR, a decision on Friday saw the ban brought back to it's initial length - meaning he is available for this weekend, although he has not been named in Stade matchday 22.
A win for the Parisians will guarantee them of a semi-finals qualification. A defeat however will be a real spanner in the works. Castres still maintain hopes of making the play-offs and like Perpignan have been closing in on the ailing club from the capital.
Stade coach Fabien Galthié is all too aware of the importance of Saturday's result, calling the match a "quarter-final."
Referee: Eric Darrière
Touch judges: Didier Dussaut, Pierre Marie Masson
Assessor: Jean-Louis Lamy
Television match official: Gérard Borreani
Albi v Bayonne
Stadium municipal d'Albi, 17:30 (15:30 GMT)
Albi, who are still waiting for a verdict regarding their appeal against the league's decision to retrograde the club by a division, have called on the support of their fans.
A protest march has been organised to take place through the centre of town ahead of their last match home of the season against Bayonne. Fans have been invited to wear black clothing adorned with a yellow heart.
In the hope that their appeal is successful Albi are fighting on to avoid relegation - and have been doing a good job of it so far. If they win against Bayonne, which is quite possible, and Dax lose to Montpellier, which is equally possible, they would have done enough to stay up - at least in terms of points on the table.
Bayonne will have other ideas though. 31-13 winners at home earlier this year, the Basques will travel to Albi confident of a repeat. Expect a close scoreline.
Referee: Akim Hadj Bachir
Touch judges: Gérard Gacon, Jean-Luc Gonzalez
Assessor: Hubert Dubes
Television match official: Daniel Irazoqui
Perpignan v Stade Toulousain (Round 23)
June 3, Aimé Giral, Perpignan, 21:00 (19:00 GMT)
In what could turn out to be a battle of attrition against a Toulouse side that has played an awful lot of rugby this season already, Perpignan will be seeking revenge for the drubbing they received in the teams' last encounter and will be desperate to score some points towards the very tight race for a semi-final spot.
Perpignan loose forward Ovidiu Tonita's season is over. He needs a operation on torn knee ligaments and will be sidelined for three months. News is good however for Gavin Hume, Henry Tuilagi, Nicolas Laharrague, Adrien Planté and Jean-Pierre Perez who have all returned to training.