All good things must come to an end is a phrase that’s true
of all things in life, and sport is no exception. It’s fitting that in his last
game of professional rugby, Johnny Wilkinson may walk away with the Top 14
trophy to add to his second Heineken Cup.
However, standing in his way are the formidable presence of
defending champions Castres, who have reached a second final against all the
odds, making for an almost creepy repeat of 12 months ago; Toulon arrive with
the Heineken Cup, Castres have beaten Clermont and Montpellier to arrive here.
And like last year, Castres are massive underdogs, which is
a fair assessment of their chances based on the league season, with Toulon
ironically having earned them their place here, coming from 10-3 down to beat
Stade Francais in Nice on the final day. Castres then made history – something
they’ve done a lot of recently – by ending Clermont’s home winning streak, the
first side to win at the Marcel Michelin since 2009 when doing so in deserving
fashion before grinding down Montpellier in the semi final.
Toulon have the superiority in every area and should have
enough to get the job done, although it’s hard to know what they left on the
field last week and Castres were ruthless in running down a tired and leaden
footed Toulon. Based on how deserving they were against Saracens last week, it’s
fair to say yet more power has improved Toulon since, but a start of 8 for
Castres seems more then fair and they can take full advantage of that.
Advice
1 pt Castres +7.5 (10/11 Hills)
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