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Perpignan are close to earning promotion back to the Top 14. The Catalans were 19-14 away winners over Béziers on Thursday. The win sees the club now assured of a place in the Pro D2 Semi Finals. There are still three rounds of the regular season remaining.
Patricio Fernández had a strong match for Perpignan. The Argentine play-maker scored 11 points to guide Perpignan to victory. Not only will Perpignan be in the Semi Finals, but the team will have home advantage.
Perpignan presently has 98 points. Vannes are hot in pursuit with 95. In other words, Vannes may qualify for the Semi Finals in their next match; it is later today against the 12th placed Rouen Normandie.
The remaining Semi Finals spots are far less certain. Biarritz are in third position on 77 points. Next are Colomiers and Oyonnax who both have 69 points. Also in the running are Grenoble on 62 and Nevers on 61 points respectively. Oyonnax were 20-15 away winners vs Nevers on Thursday. Uruguayan second-rower Manuel Leindekar started for the winning side.
Promotion wouold not only see Perpignan back in the Top 14, it wouls also see Fernández back. He previously played for Clermont and Lyon before moving south to Perpignan. He and former Jaguares captain Jerónimo de la Fuente are now closing-in on competing in the Top 14 next season. The same applies to Pumas N8 Rodrigo Bruni who plays for Vannes.
