Clermont eye top spot as French giants look to bounce back

Clermont can regain the leadership of the French Top 14 on Friday before defending champions Stade Francais, big-spending Racing 92 and Toulouse attempt to exorcise last week's morale-sapping defeats.

Clermont cruised past rock-bottom Oyonnax 44-16 on Saturday but will be wary of Friday night's challenge when they travel to Grenoble, who beat Stade Francais 33-18 last weekend.

Unfancied Grenoble have won six of their last eight matches but skipper Fabien Gengenbacher has warned about high expectations of the team muscling into the top six and a spot in the end of season play-offs.

"For the moment, we don't want want to put the cart before the horse. We must first confirm last week's win by beating Clermont at home," he said.

Clermont have stablised in recent weeks -- a 28-17 win over Castres and the mauling of Oyonnax following a nightmare January where they were eliminated from the European Cup and suffered three successive home defeats.

Clermont will be boosted by the return from injury of French international full-back Scott Spedding.

The South African-born back suffered a knee ligament injury in the Six Nations clash with Ireland.

Captain Damien Chouly, who hurt his shoulder in France's defeat in Wales last week, should also be fit to make the trip.

English winger David Strettle suffered a hip injury against Oyonnax but should start as should fly-half Camille Lopez.

However, Clermont still have an extensive injury list which includes Hosea Gear, Benjamin Kayser, Jamie Cudmore, David Zirakashvili, Nick Abendanon, Benson Stanley and Adrien Plante.

European champions Toulon returned to the summit with a six-try, 44-15 win over Brive last week and on Sunday travel to La Rochelle.

Second-placed Racing 92 suffered their first home loss since May when Castres grabbed a 13-9 victory last weekend.

They will look to prove that was a one-off when on Saturday they host relegation-haunted Agen, who are second bottom.

Agen picked up just their third win of the season last time out thanks to a narrow 31-27 triumph over La Rochelle, a victory which took them off the bottom.

It was also their first win since October 31, when they stunned Stade Francais 28-23.

"It was the sort of day that brought a smile back to our faces," said Agen backs coach Stephane Prosper as he reflected on his team ending a run of 13 successive defeats in the Top 14 and European Challenge Cup.

But they are not getting carried away knowing that a Racing team, orchestrated by Dan Carter, will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing the league's second-worst defence -- 442 points and 49 tries conceded.

Defending champions Stade Francais's 33-18 loss to Grenoble last week left them four spots off the bottom of the table.

On Saturday, they travel to Pau who are just below them but will be without injured forwards Raphael Lakafia and Heinke van der Merwe.

Flanker Lakafia has a shoulder problem picked up in a challenge during last weekend's defeat and will be out of action three to four weeks.

The 30-year-old South African prop Van der Merwe hasn't played since January and picked up a knee problem in training on Tuesday which will need surgery.

Toulouse slipped to their first home loss of the Top 14 season last Sunday when Montpellier grabbed a 31-29 win.

They are at Brive on Saturday but will miss experienced back-row forward Imanol Harinordoquy with a knee injury.

Also missing from the second and back rows are Josefa Tekori, Romain Millo-Chluski and Louis Picamoles.

Fixtures

Friday

Grenoble v Clermont (1945GMT)

Saturday

Brive v Toulouse (1345GMT), Bordeaux v Oyonnax (1730GMT), Pau v Stade Francais (1730GMT), Racing v Agen (1730GMT), Montpellier v Castres (1945GMT)

Sunday

La Rochelle v Toulon (1515GMT)