Oyonnax – Castres

Oyonnax and Castres will square off in Round 9 of the French Top 14, and both teams will feel this is a match they could win.

Oyonnax dominated the Pro D2 last season to claim promotion into Top14, but found themselves overwhelmed by the top division level this season – particularly on the road. The hosts are currently 12th in the standings and have lost their previous 5 matches. Oyonnax has been decent at home (where they claimed all their points), but away from home they often looked pathetic, suffering some massive blowouts – including a 34 points at league leaders Lyon in the last round.

Castres managed to reach the playoffs last season and they will be aiming for a similar result this year, but their start of the season wasn`t great. The visitors are sitting on the 9th place with 5 losses in 8 matches, and they haven`t been very good on the road – losing all of their 4 matches away from home. Last weekend Castres defeated 13th placed Agen by 15 points at home.

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Team news & lineups:

In a weekend in which many teams lost players to various National teams training camps, Oyonnax and Castres are both pretty much at full strength. Castres did lose a couple more players than Oyonnax, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Oyonnax: 1. Raynaud, 2. Macdonald, 3. Tui, 4. Battye, 5. Sykes, 6. Sobela, 7. Ursache (c), 8. Grice, 9. Hall, 10. Botica, 11. Muller, 12. Hopper, 13. Inman, 14. Ikpefan, 15. Etienne

Castres: 1. Tichit, 2. Jenneker, 3. Montes, 4. Samson, 5. Ortega (c), 6. Babillot, 7. Delaporte, 8. Vaipulu, 9. Kockott, 10. Urdapilleta, 11. Smith, 12. Ebersohn, 13. Combezou, 14. Batlle, 15. Dumora

Despite the fact that they had poor overall results this season, including a number of ugly blowouts, the hosts have been competitive on their own turf. At home they drew with Toulouse, beat Agen and lost against Bordeaux (by 30) and against Pau (by 3).

Meanwhile, Castres lost all their away games, including a 5 point loss against last placed Brive (winless at that point) just two rounds ago.

Oyonnax is clearly struggling with playing on the road but that is not a surprise for a newly promoted team, which needs time to adapt to the grueling proposition of playing away from home in the Top 14. Oyonnax was much more competitive at home, often playing good rugby there, and today they will face a traditionally poor road team.

Castres lost all 4 road matches this season. Last year, they had a 2-1-10 record away from home in the Top 14, and they often look much more vulnerable away from the comfort of their own stadium.

Look for a close, physical game of rugby, but Oyonnax is the real favorite here. The bookies opened with Oyonnax as the clear favorites and they knew what they were doing, but punters went all over Castres because of the apparent poor form of the hosts. Oyonnax are not as bad as their record suggests, and facing an accessible opponent like Castres at home is the perfect opportunity to claim some much needed points.

Oyonnax’s desperation for points coupled with the extra energy that the Top 14 gives you at home should be enough to earn the hosts a victory by about 3-10 points. Castres missing a couple of important players will help Oyonnax as well.

My tip is Oyonnax to win. Prediction: Oyonnax – Castres 24 – 19.

Pick: Oyonnax
Odds: 2.30 @ Ladbrokes
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 10.40
Event date: 4 November