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The business end of France’s second division has arrived. In week 28 of the Pro D2 teams are to compete for additional competition points as they seek to realize their dreams of earning promotion to the Top 14 or avoiding relegation to the Fédérale 1.
Week 28 opens today in central France with the 4th placed Nevers are at home against the 7th placed Béziers. Canadian mid-fielder Conor Trainor will sit out the match.
Americas players will take to the field on Friday. Doing go for the 14th placed Colomiers against the 8th Biarritz will be Argentine flanker Martín Chiappessoni, Argentine hooker Agustín Costa Repetto, and Argentine fly half Sebastián Poet. Chiappessoni will feature from the bench while Costa Repetto and Poet are to both start the match.
On 53 points Colomiers are just two points outside of the relegation zone. 15th position is occupied by Bourg en Bresse who play host to the 12th placed Montauban. The result of this match will be of vital interest to the above mentioned Argentine players.
Already relegated to the Fédérale 1 are Massy. The Parisians play host to the 6th placed Mont de Marsan on Friday. Argentine Carlos Muzzio will start at loose head for the visitors with fellow Argentine Jerónimo Negrotto named on the bench covering tight head. Italian capped Argentine Leandro Cedaro will also feature from the bench as will Agustín Ormaechea. The scrum-half has 42 caps to his name for his native Uruguay.
The 2nd placed Brive host 10th placed Carcassonne. Starting on the left wing for the hosts will be 2016 Argentine Olympian Axel Muller. He moved to France after Jaguares opportunities proved to be limited due to the supply of outside backs.
Friday’s final fixture sees the 9th placed Charente at home to the 3rd placed Bayonne. Taking to the field as a replacement tight head will be Argentina’s Joel Sclavi.
Completing week 28 will be a Sunday fixture between Aix en Provence and Oyonnax. The league leaders will be looking to win on the road to maintain their four point lead top of the table above Brive. Line-ups for the match will be announced on Saturday afternoon.
