Pau – Oyonnax

Section Paloise will host Oyonnax on Saturday in the 22nd round of the French Top 14.

Section Paloise is coming after an ugly 24 point loss at Clermont last weekend, but that defeat came after 6 consecutive victories, so today`s hosts are definitely in good form recently. Pau is currently on the 5th place in the standings, but a playoff place is far from assured, as the race is extremely tight from the 2nd to the 8th positions.

Incredibly, 4 of the 5 wins Oyonnax claimed this season came in the last 4 rounds, as the visitors have made an unlikely and incredible comeback in the Top 14 standings. Oyonnax has now finally escaped the last place and is sitting in a playoff / playout position, after just one month ago they seemed destined for relegation. The team will look to capitalize on this amazing run of form and get another result in this clash.

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Lineups:

Pau: 15 Malie, 14 Fumat, 13 Smith, 12 Vatubua, 11 Votu, 10 Taylor, 9 Daubagna, 8 Armitage, 7 Puech, 6 Mowen, 5 Pierre (c), 4 Ramsay, 3 Hamadache, 2 Lespiaucq, 1 Mackintosh

Oyonnax: 15 Etienne, 14 Ikpefan, 13 Seuteni, 12 Inman, 11 Codjo, 10 Botica, 9 Gondrand, 8 Grice, 7 Elliot, 6 Taieb, 5 Sykes, 4 Ursache (c), 3 Raynaud, 2 Macdonald, 1 Mirtskhulava

Pau will fancy their chances of getting back to winning ways against the 13th placed Oyonnax, but the visitors have truly been in remarkable form recently. Not only did they win 4 games in a row, but the wins came against some strong level of opposition, including Clermont, Toulon or Bordeaux.

It has to be said that while Pau is also in good form with 6 wins in the last 7 games, they did look poor last week against Clermont. What`s more, many of their victories during this winning run came by very small margins. Only one of their 6 recent wins was in double digits, and 4 of the 6 came by 5 points or less!

Both teams have been in fine form recently, so this should be a good game. Home court advantage is always crucial in the Top 14 and will help Section Paloise, but Oyonnax has been impressive on the road in the last few weeks.

With Oyonnax playing so well recently and with Pau not being a team which wins by big margins, chances are the visitors should keep it close, or maybe even pull off another upset. My tip is Oyonnax to cover the + 12 point (asian) handicap. Prediction: Pau – Oyonnax 26 – 22.

Pick: Oyonnax +12
Odds: 1.93 @ Sbobet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.44
Event date: 24 March