Ntamack rested, Dupont in doubt

The Top 14 leaders travel to Castres on Saturday (9pm) with an infirmary still full and a first real squad call to make. Pierre-Fabre has rarely smiled on them.

Stade Toulousain will travel to Castres without Romain Ntamack on Saturday evening, for round 5 of the Top 14. According to RMC Sport, the fly-half has been rested and given time off this week, after starting the first four matches of the season. Antoine Dupont and Thibaud Flament are training normally, but their availability for Pierre-Fabre has not been decided.

The reason lies in the experiment launched this season by the FFR and the LNR. A list of 33 internationals should not, in principle, play more than four consecutive matches for their club without a week’s break. In exchange, Fabien Galthié commits to not selecting these players in more than nine of the season’s twelve Tests. The agreement is not binding and the official list is not public. « The one that came out is not the right one », the head coach warned on Saturday on Canal+.

Nine Toulouse players ever-present

Since the restart, nine Toulouse players have featured in all four matches. Ntamack has started every time for 296 minutes and two tries. Dupont has played four matches including three starts, 236 minutes and two tries, Flament four matches and 270 minutes. The most used player is Kalvin Gourgues, with 300 minutes, ahead of Joshua Brennan (247) and Alexandre Roumat (240).

Gourgues, whom La Dépêche reported as carrying a possible knock on Monday, trained normally on Tuesday according to RMC Sport. Thomas Ramos, rested for the trip to Vannes, is among the regulars expected at Castres.

An infirmary emptying out a little

Toulouse had 22 players injured against Montpellier, according to Clément Poitrenaud. François Cros, Paul Graou, Tommaso Menoncello, Georges-Henri Colombe and Juan Cruz Mallia have returned to training this week. Still absent are Peato Mauvaka (ankle), Emmanuel Meafou, Clément Vergé, Anthony Jelonch, Jack Willis, Blair Kinghorn, Léo Banos, Paul Mallez, David Ainu’u, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Valentin Delpy, Matthis Castro-Ferreira, Malachi Hawkes and Nelson Epée. Célian Pouzelgues is with the France Sevens squad.

Two wins in ten away trips

Pierre-Fabre remains a tough stop for Toulouse. Since 2015-16, they have won there only twice in ten regular season matches : 21-20 in April 2019 and 42-25 last April. In between, they had lost there five times in a row.

Castres have won both their home matches this season, against Vannes (29-20) and Toulon (29-27), but have lost both their away games, at Perpignan (43-29) and then at Clermont (20-6) last Saturday. Toulouse, leaders with three wins in four rounds, will next host Bayonne on 10 October.