Toulon bid to banish Euro blues against Clermont

Toulon will bid to bounce back from their European Cup horror show against Wasps with a maiden away victory over fellow Top 14 giants Clermont this weekend.

The defending European champions, seeking a fourth successive European title, slumped to a shock 32-6 defeat to Wasps on Sunday while last season's runners-up Clermont edged Ospreys 34-29.

Toulon, with 16 players from eight countries in their squad who featured in the Rugby World Cup, also saw Wasps claim a crucial bonus point which put them in charge of a tough Pool 5 having defeated three-time winners Leinster 33-6 in last week's opening game.

Wasps ran in four tries against a star-studded Toulon side whose scheduled opening game in the tournament against Bath had been postponed in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks.

"We have to quickly recover for Clermont," said Toulon's Argentina flanker Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

"We have a very good group to be among the top teams in both competitions," he said in reference to the intensely tough Top 14 and European Cup.

Lobbe added: "Everyone has taken a hit after that defeat. We've lost matches in the last two seasons but have gone on to win.

"We weren't very effective in defence and conceded 14 points very quickly against Wasps. Thirty points is a lot.

"It was a bad game, there weren't many highlights for us and we weren't very efficient. They had five chances and scored four tries. We'll watch the video and put it into the next game."

Clermont's nail-biting victory over the Ospreys also came at a price, the French club handing the Welsh region two invaluable bonus points for scoring four tries and finishing within seven points of the winners, who themselves took home a bonus point.

Clermont dominate the formbook over Toulon at home, never having lost to the Bernard Laporte-coached club in Auvergne in 26 games since their first match-up in 1936.

Hooker Benjamin Kayser said Clermont, league leaders with 29 points from eight games -- seven ahead of fourth-placed Toulon, needed to buckle down.

"We were all over the place against the Ospreys," the France international said.

"We need to be more focused, it's imperative. There were too many defensive mistakes for a team of our level.

"We need to show more control of the game."

Second-placed Toulouse, who laboured past Oyonnax 24-18 in European Cup action, face a tough outing away at third-placed Racing 92, the Parisians having dispatched Scarlets 29-12 last weekend.

Brive, sitting in fifth spot, travel to Oyonnax, while Jake White's Montpellier open proceedings at home against La Rochelle on Friday.

Saturday's other games see Bordeaux-Begles host Pau while Castres are at bottom-placed Agen.

Defending Top 14 champions Stade Francais, in 11th spot, will look to get their season back on track at Grenoble in Sunday's sole fixture.

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Friday

Montpellier v La Rochelle (1945)

Saturday

Racing 92 v Toulouse (1345), Oyonnax v Brive, Bordeaux-Begles v Pau, Agen v Castres (1730), Clermont v Toulon (1945)

Sunday

Grenoble v Stade Francais (1515)
Source: AFP