Americas Players in Top 14 – Week 2

Week 2 of the 2016-2017 Top 14 season will see matches played on Saturday and Sunday in France. The competition features world class athletes from around the globe. Included are players from the Americas. This season’s edition is to continue with the importance of Americas players. Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and the USA are all represented.

First up will be Pau vs Toulon. With both clubs having lost in week 1 their fixture has vital competition points at stake. Starting for Pau against his former club with be Steffon Armitage. The Trinidad & Tobago product  will play flanker. On Toulon’s bench will be Rugby World Cup players from the USA and Argentina – Samu Manoa and Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe.

At the Stade des Alpes Grenoble will be looking to recover from a first round hammering at the hands of Stade Français. Their opponents, La Rochelle, performed very well to snatch a draw against the powerful Clermont. Argentine second-rower Leandro Cedaro will run out in the second-row for the visitors.

Reigning champions Racing 92 did not start well, losing to Bordeaux in week 1. On Saturday, though, they will have a strong shot at a win as they play host to Lyon in a Top 14 vs Pro D2 champions match-up. The match will coincide with Argentina vs South Africa in Salta and yet there will be four Pumas starting. Juan Imhoff and Manuel Carizza will play for the Parisians while Agustín Figuerola and Francisco Gomez Kodela will run-on for Lyon. Trinidad & Tobago’s Delon Ermitage will also start, playing fullback.

Two sides who did well to win in week 1 will face-off at the infamous Stade Jean Dauger on Saturday. Bayonne’s superb victory over Toulon was made possible by Córdoba’s Martín Bustos Moyano. He will again start the match from fullback. The Chilean duo of Pablo Huete and Ramón Ayarza will not feature. On the opposing team Rodrigo Capó Ortega will captain Castres with Benjamin Urdapilleta again starting. Debuting will be former Puma Horacio Agulla.

The evening will see Gonzalo Quesada’s Stade Français facing Brive away. The 2015 champions genuinely hammered Grenoble in week 1 and will have the greatest player lost to Argentina leading them. Sergio Parisse will play at the back of the scrum.

Former Puma Paticio Albacete will not play for Toulouse in Saturday’s final match. The second-rower is yet to return from injury. Meanwhile the teams for Montpellier vs Clermont will be named on Saturday afternoon. Their match will be played on Sunday.