Clermont v Toulon

(Stade Michelin) - April 2

Form in Europe this season: Clermont are one of the few French clubs who place European Cup success over the Top14 and have been pulling out all the stops so far this season with 26 tries to date. Their double over a fine Exeter Chiefs side included passages of rugby from the gods, they disposed of French rivals Bordeaux-Begles and enjoyed hugely entertaining games with Ulster. They lost 39-32 at Ravenhill in a thriller but revenge was swift a week later when they won 38-19 at Stade Michelin.

Toulon, by their own standards, have been woeful and only scraped home via the final best losers spot after losing three of their six pool matches.

Saracens did the double over them and Toulon also lost away to Scarlets. Crucially they did garner a few bonus points along the way and they did hint at the undoubted quality they still possess when they lost 10-3 at Saracens in their final match, a game they could just as easily have won. Overall, though,

not impressive.

European pedigree: Considerable. Toulon didn’t feature for many years but once their well-documented revival got underway they reeled off three wins in a row between 2013 and 2015, the first two with Jonny Wilkinson pulling the strings. Clermont, meanwhile, have always found a way of falling short with two losing finals and two other semi-finals in the last five tournaments. One day soon .....

Head to Head in Europe: Toulon lead 2-0, both in recent finals.

Home advantage? Massive. Clermont can famously be flaky on the road but they rarely fail to perform at Stade Michelin.

Key players: David Strettle, far left, and Noa Nakaitaci provide the cutting edge behind the scrum, Remi Lamerat the grunt and Nick Abendanon the magic. For Toulon their ageing pack have got to front up if the likes of Matt Giteau, near left, Bryan Habana and Josua Tuisova are to stand any chance.

Prediction: Clermont by ten. They are on a mission this year and it’s difficult to make a case for such an erratic Toulon side.