Top14 | Castres – Montpellier: These 3 players who could rock the final of the Top 14!

Rugby – Top 14

Posted on June 24, 2022 at 4:35 a.m. by Alexis Bernard

Only a few hours left before the long-awaited final of the Top 14 between Castres Olympique and Montpellier Hérault Rugby (Friday, 9 p.m.). A poster in which three players could play a key role that Le 10 Sport invites you to watch closely. Very, very close. The outcome of the meeting may be in their hands.

Zach Mercer (Montpellier)

Zach Mercer has a rather modest size (1m90 for 111kg). But he has many qualities including an individual technical quality close to perfection which translates into an excellent sense of placement and timing. He also has qualities of speed and placements well above average. With a very complete profile, he has the ability to advance his team, his ground game is also very good, moreover he is very reliable in coverage. The Englishman is having an exceptional season with Montpellier. The XV de la rose international is undoubtedly the player who spends the most on the pitch: He is both the player who has traveled the most meters with the ball in hand but also the one who has made the most ” offloads” with a total of 37. He is also formidable in turnovers with 25 stolen balls, stolen touches (9) and broken tackles (2nd best player with 77 broken tackles).

Tentez de remporter 𝟐 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞 du @top14rugby vendredi 24 juin🏉 ➡️ Pour participer*: 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐭 𝐑𝐓 ce post#EngagésPourLeCollectif @LNRofficiel #FinaleTOP14*Tirage au sort le 22/06 à 18h pic.twitter.com/1tm7VsWIy0

— Assurement Rugby (@assurementrugby) June 21, 2022

Benjamin Urdapilleta (Castres)

Despite an impressive collective strength, the CO needs its individualities to shine. Argentinian Benjamin Urdapilleta is the perfect example. A formidable scorer, he is the second best scorer in the championship with 86% success rate, he is also very good at kicking passes, as evidenced by the sublime try scored by Dumora in the semi-finals. However, he had completely missed his start to the match, losing several balls which cost the CO dearly. Two crucial ball losses which resulted in two tries for the Toulouse team by Matthis Lebel in the second minute and by Romain Ntamak in the 46th. Urdapilleta then gradually settled to find the fault in the opposing rear triangle through small kicks. He was eventually voted man of the match for the semi-finals. In the end, he will undoubtedly be one of the X factors of the CO in the quest for the Shield of Brennus.

Tom Staniforth (Castres)

Tom Staniforth is the revelation of the CO this season. One of the great architects of his club’s first place in the regular season, he quickly established himself as one of the best players on the team. Arrived in 2020, he was unable to demonstrate his full potential in his first season due to injuries. This season he has made a name for himself in the championship and with style. In attack as in defense, he maintains an impressive intensity with remarkable regularity. As proof, he has already managed 281 tackles in total! He is undoubtedly the defensive boss of the Tarn, he is one of the best recoverers in the Top 14 with 24 turnovers caused. Offensively, he is the second best ball carrier in the Top 14 (295 runs with the ball). He is the element of the CO’s excellent season on both sides of the pitch.