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We’ve reached the end of the line for the regular season of the Pro D2. A long and arduous season will come to an end for 12 clubs, while four others will battle it out for one remaining promotion spot into the Top 14. The clubs will all go into their final games blind, with each game kicking off at 2:20pm local time.
Lyon are well ahead of the pack and have already qualified. Bayonne are next up and are in the playoffs. Five clubs will battle it out for the remaining three spots, with Mont-de-Marsan slightly ahead on 78 points, Aurillac just behind on 77, Colomiers on 74, and a tie on 73 points for Perpignan and Béziers.
Bayonne will host Mont-de-Marsan with the hosts needing one competition point from the fixture to guarantee their spot in the playoffs. Former Pumas fullback Martín Bustos Moyano will be a key man with the boot for Bayonne, with Chile’s Ramón Ayarza on the bench. Stade Montois have recalled Uruguayan scrumhalf Agustín Ormaechea to the starting lineup and listed Argentine prop Carlos Muzzio as a reserve.
Demián Panizzo will lock out the Colomiers scrum against Carcassonne. Ignacio Mieres will look to play spoiler as flyhalf for Dax against Perpignan. Damian Arias will wait for his chance to make an impression on Béziers as a replacement for Montauban.
Argentine wing Lucas Caneda starts for Provence with countryman Leandro Assi on the bench against Narbonne. Jerónimo Negrotto and Nicolás Vergallo are both reserves for Tarbes at Bourgoin, where Canadian Andrew Tiedemann starts at in the no3 jersey.
