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Americas players are to clash in the Top 14 playoffs. Three of the four teams involved in the barrage round have regular names in their lineups who are from the Americas.
The Top 14 regular season came to a close today. Due to it being the final round all seven league matches were played simultaneously. Coming out as winners today were the seven home sides – Brive, Clermont, Grenoble, Montpellier, Racing 92, Toulon and Toulouse.
Of the losing sides Castres and La Rochelle will appear in the playoffs. La Rochelle will skip the barrage round to face either Toulon or Castres. Also guaranteed of a place in the Semi Finals is Clermont. The central French side will face either Montpellier of Racing 92.
Clermont won 30-26 today against La Rochelle. Playing at flyhalf was Patricio Fernández. The Rosario playmaker kicked six goals. His side will play in the Semi Finals on either May 26 or 27. While the team will have the barrage weekend off, Clermont is to play on May 13 against Saracens in the Champions Cup Final.
The barrage weekend will be on May 19 and 20. Toulon vs Castres has the potential of seeing players from the Americas clash. USA enforcer Samu Manoa and Argentine players Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe and Axel Müller are on the Toulon roster, though Manoa is unlikely to participate due to an arm injury. Castres is home to Argentine players Horacio Agulla and Benjamín Urdapilleta and Uruguay’s Rodrigo Capó Ortega. The Uruguayan is also club captain.
Montpellier currently does not have players from the Americas. Racing 92 does though. The Parisian club is home to Manuel Carizza and Juan Imhoff. Both players featured in last seasons’s final, winning the French championship in Barcelona, Spain.
