After two weeks of European action the Top 14 returns tonight with leaders Racing-Métro 92 playing host to a Bayonne side desperate to end a three-match losing streak. The game offers the Basques a chance to rediscover their impressive early-season form, although beating Racing in Paris will be an extremely tall order.
Top 14 Fixtures 2010/11
Should Racing win they can rest easy for the remainder of the weekend safe in the knowledge their points tally will not be surpassed, although three other teams go into Round 10 with the aim of at least pulling level.
That trio is made up of Montpellier, Stade Toulousain and Toulon, and each has a different hurdle in front of them. Montpellier are at home to 13th-placed Bourgoin and will be looking for the bonus-point win that could move them back to the summit, while Stade Toulousain are at home to 2009 champions Perpignan in a heavyweight clash down at the Stade Municipal.
Top 14 League Table 2010/11
Toulon face a different prospect altogether as they travel to Paris - by private jet no less - to take on Stade Francais at the Stade de France. More than 70,000 tickets have already been sold for the glamour tie, with Toulon seeking a repeat of last season's 18-22 victory in the capital to extend their four-match winning run in the league.
Leading scorers in Top 14 2010/11
Elsewhere, champions Clermont Auvergne will also be looking back to last season for inspiration as they journey to the Basque heartland of Biarritz. 'Les Jaunards' triumphed 19-26 in the corresponding fixture last season, but they face up to a Biarritz side that has won six of its last seven matches, including both of their opening Heineken Cup games.
In the weekend's other matches basement boys SU Agen are on the road away to Castres, who will be looking to maintain their 100% home record this season, while Brive travel to La Rochelle in a game which offers the Limousin club the chance to break clear from the bottom three.
It all adds up to another fascinating weekend ahead, with teams either trying to maintain momentum built up over the past fortnight - such as Biarritz and La Rochelle - or seeking to banish their European blues.
Racing should certainly not lack for confidence as they go into this match as league leaders and on the back of a 16-9 home win against French champions Clermont Auvergne in last weekend's Heineken Cup clash. They are also the league's leading scorers, thanks in no small part to in-form fly-half Jonathan Wisniewski, who has amassed 125 points on his own. Furthermore this match also represent the beginning of a quirk in the fixture list that sees them play six of their next seven league games at the Stade Yves du Manoir. That represents a real opportunity to put daylight between themselves and their nearest challengers, especially as they have won all five games at home this season. For Bayonne the challenge is great indeed as they are desperate to end a three-match losing run in the league that has seen them slip from pole position down to eighth. Admittedly that reflects the tight nature of this season's league standing - they remain just five points behind their hosts - but another defeat here would most likely see them fall even further. Talking of Fall, the young international winger will miss the chance to play against the club he left in the summer after failing to recover from injury, while club captain Lionel Nallet is rested, along with scrum-half Nicolas Durand. In their combined absence Mathieu Lorée comes in ant No 9 and will skipper a side that is also without injured Springbok Francois Steyn. That means England's Dan Scarbrough starts at full-back, with Sireli Bobo and Julien Saubade on the wings. Bayonne recall fly-half Benjamin Boyet after giving the former Bourgoin player time off during the European fortnight.
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