Sometimes, the Top 14 schedule shakes out in unexpected ways, and if you looked at the French rugby top flight’s fixture schedule before the season, you would’ve been unlikely to pinpoint Pau’s match with Toulouse as a jostle for the top spot in the league standings. 

Alas, this is where we stand now, a month and a half into the Top 14 season — and we’re here for it. 

The clash between Pau and four-peat chasing Toulouse is the highlight match on what is another loaded slate of action in French rugby this weekend, with limited separation still a major factor in the standings as clubs find their places and make their marks.

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Here’s a look at the weekend of rugby action on tap on the Top 14 calendar, streamed live and exclusively on FloRugby in the United States.

NOTE: All kickoff times are in Eastern. 

Clermont At Bayonne, 8:30 a.m. Saturday

Clermont has quietly won three out of its past four matches and looked quite impressive doing it, putting up 84 points against Montauban in Round 5, before keeping Toulon at bay last weekend to move up to eighth in the table. 

And, while that record-setting performance against Montauban helps, Clermont, at the moment, still is second in the Top 14 in tries scored with 29, giving it the earned early-season reputation of a dark horse who could shake up placings. 

Doing that in Round 7 at Bayonne, however, may be an easier task said than done. 

L’Aviron, which led the Top 14 table entering Round 6 before dropping their match to Pau in a Pyrenees derby, has been unbeaten domestically at the Stade Jean-Dauger for over a calendar year and will need to rebound in front of home support this weekend in order to keep up the charge in a very-tight top half of the standings.

Look for the league’s current leading point-scorer, Bayonne fly-half Joris Segonds, to make his mark in what could be a high-scoring affair full of fireworks.

Montauban At La Rochelle, 10:35 a.m. Saturday

Yes, La Rochelle has played one fewer match than everyone else in the Top 14 besides Toulon, but 12th place through six weeks is not a position the club wants to see itself in. 

Back-to-back defeats, most recently a narrow loss last weekend to Stade Francais, have the two-time Champions Cup winners reeling, and La Rochelle must be careful not to let a slip in form become a spiral in rapid time. 

Newly promoted club Montauban is one of the few teams behind La Rochelle in the standings, as it still searches for its first Top 14 victory in 15 years, but make no mistake; this will not be a walk in the park for Ronan O’Gara’s men. 

Though its defense has largely been abhorrent (league-high 40 tries allowed), Montauban can attack competently and doesn’t quit on matches when down early. 

Just ask Castres, which had to fend off a furious second-half rally from Montauban in Round 6, despite the fact that it was playing with a man down due to a red card for almost the final half-hour of the match. 

Alarm bells shouldn’t be ringing in the La Rochelle camp yet, but if it loses to Montauban this weekend, they should be. 

Lyon At Montpellier, 10:35 a.m. Saturday 

Lyon, the Top 14’s early-season leader of the pack after ripping out to victories in its first three games, avoided dropping a third-straight match on the bounce last weekend. 

Lyon blasted past last-place Perpignan to keep in place with the league leaders in fourth place, standing just a point back of the top spot. 

Perhaps the most notable part about LOU’s win last week was the devastating pace it showed in such a short amount of time; after an hour of play against Perpignan, the match’s result was up for grabs as Lyon only held a slim 23-19 lead. 

Then, in the match’s final quarter, LOU ripped the game open by outscoring Perpignan 21-0 the rest of the way to pick up a much-needed win. 

Doing something similar against an 11th-place Montpellier side that has allowed the least amount of tries (13) among all Top 14 clubs that have played at least six matches would be a good sign for Lyon, as Les Cistes’ defense has been a formidable outfit across the season’s first month and a half. 

Montpellier will be aiming to avoid back-to-back losses for the second time this campaign after Racing 92 toppled it last weekend. 

Bordeaux Begles At Perpignan, 10:35 a.m. Saturday 

It’s a bit strange to see Bordeaux — the reigning and defending EPCR Champions Cup winner — sitting in 10th place domestically after six weeks, but there are some important caveats to talk about to go along with that fact. 

First, even after a 56-13 battering at the hands of Toulouse in a highly anticipated rematch of the past two Top 14 finals last weekend, still UBB sits five points (or, in expanded terms, a win and a bonus point) out of the top spot and can easily reverse its fortunes with a rebound performance this weekend. 

Second, Bordeaux will be heavily favored to do just that, even away from home, in Round 7 against a hapless Perpignan side still searching for its first win and point as it’s nailed to the bottom of the table at 11 points adrift from automatic relegation safety. 

Bordeaux has a major opportunity for a get-right match and to build some form as it has yet to win consecutive matches at any point this season — something that will need to happen sooner rather than later in order for it to stay comfortably in the top 6 and not be battling for a playoff spot later on the season when European competitions get underway. 

Stade Francais At Castres, 10:35 a.m. Saturday 

Has elite-level rugby finally returned to Paris? 

After a disastrous 12th-place finish last season, Stade Francais, the capital city’s most decorated club, has, over the past few weeks, emerged as a club reborn, winning its past three games — with highlight victories against Bordeaux in Round 4 and La Rochelle in Round 6 — for the longest active winning streak in the Top 14 going into this weekend. 

The strong results have rocketed Stade up to third place in the table entering Round 7, and given it a surge of confidence, which it will need ahead of what could be a tricky trip to Castres. 

The hosts have been a bit of an under-the-radar type of team this season in a good way; Castres has won three of its past four matches, only falling to powerhouse Toulouse in that stretch, and a huge victory against the Parisians could give it a boost up the ladder in what’s still a very tight Top 14 table, where first place and 10th place are separated by just five points. 

On the other end, Stade — should it do its job this weekend — could be the beneficiary of a tight result elsewhere between Pau and Toulouse, the top two teams in the standings and two clubs Stade Francais realistically could surpass with a strong result this weekend. 

Toulouse At Pau, 3 p.m. Saturday

Pau was the biggest winner of Round 6, notching a statement 47-24 victory over leader Bayonne and rocketing itself to the top of the table entering Round 7. 

Englishman Joe Simmonds was awesome last weekend, booting through three conversions and three penalties to go along with a second-half try as Pau ran away with the bonus-point win after the intermission.

Pau will be cheered on at home again this weekend with its biggest test yet — a date with three-time defending champion Toulouse. 

Toulouse’s own dominant victory to close out Round 6 against Toulouse places it in second and level on 19 points with Pau, meaning that whichever team escapes the Pyrenees with a win Saturday will likely be leading the Top 14 standings at this point next week. 

It’s a familiar position for Toulouse, but for Pau, it could be a major step in the right direction toward truly competing for a title after several encouraging seasons in a row in the top flight. 

Watch for this weekend to tell all about what plucky Pau is made of against the juggernauts of French rugby — and if it is truly a contender vs. a pretender for this season.

Racing 92 At Toulon, 3:05 p.m. Sunday

One of the hottest teams in the Top 14 goes to arguably the most iconic venue in the Top 14 to close out a weekend of rugby action. 

Does it get much better than that? 

Racing 92 has been on scorching form in the past month and change, winning four out of its past five matches since losing on opening weekend with a 32-25 win over Montpellier in Round 6 being the most recent result it’ll take to the Stade Mayol. 

Georgian prop Guram Gogichashvili made his mark with a brace, while being one of Racing’s motors up front and taking  advantage of a Montpellier red card early in the second half to pull away in the match’s final stanza. 

Toulon, meanwhile, has had a bit of an up-and-down year to date, having a planned match against La Rochelle postponed for later in the season, and its record comes with an asterisk because of it. 

But in the matches that RCT has played thus far this season, it’s been rather solid, giving up less than two tries per match on average. 

That being said, a 27-10 slip-up against Clermont last weekend was a step in the wrong direction, and a bounce-back performance will be needed from Toulon sooner or later in order for it to get out of the bottom-table scrap for good.

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