Top 14 preview - Narbonne

Welcome to Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié

We take an in-depth look at the runners and the riders of the 2005/06 Top 14 ahead of the new season. Today we tackle Narbonne...

Last time around:

After a slow start, Narbonne pushed themselves up into mid-table comfort and despite spending most of the season looking downwards rather than up, they rarely found themselves seriously contemplating relegation. Their European campaign was a huge disppointment though: having beaten Connacht 25-11 at home, they capitualted 40-21 at the Galway Sportsground to go tumbling out of the Challenge Cup in the first round.

This time?

The additions to the squad bode well for the season ahead, particularly the dynamic running of Christian Labit and the experience offered by Jaco Gouws. They do not have the strength to trouble the top of the table, but have an outside chance of a Heineken Cup place. The fixture calnedar has not been too kind to them though, their first five fixtures are all from last year's top seven, and they finish the season with matches against Perpignan and Biarritz in their last three games. In Europe, their challenge Cup draw has presented them with Bristol, Northampton and Viadana - not a bad draw, but the Saints ought to be too strong for them.

Captain: Jean-Marie Bisaro is a heavyweight back-row forward who leads both his pack and team by example with heavy hits and an equally heavy running style.

One to watch: Scrum-half Grégory Mahé couldn't get a look-in at Stade Français, and moved south at the end of last season to increase his prospects of regular first-grade rugby. He has a zippy pass and an exceptional burst of speed.

In: Jason Hooper (Auch), Christian Labit, Lionel Mazars and Julien Patey (Toulouse), Olivier Benassis, Thomas Bouquié and Christopher Ruiz (Perpignan), Cédric Desbrosse (Béziers), Jaco Gouws (Natal, South Africa), Grégory Mahé (Stade Français), Dwayne Haare (Randwick, Australia), Springer (North Harbour, New Zealand), Lei Tomiki (Randwick, Australia).

Out: David Douy (Toulon), Laurent Baluc-Rittener (Bourgoin), Pierre Manuel Garcia (Clermont Auvergne), Laurent Ferrères and Pierre-Olivier Julien (Béziers), Louis Koen (Western Province, South Africa - kicking coach), Marc Dehaese (Carcassonne), Gareth Llewellyn (Bristol, England), Peter Short (Bath, England), Mathieu Siro (Bayonne), Sébastien Petigiani (Tarbes).

Colours: Orange and black

Club info:

Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié (11,000 seats)
4 avenue Pierre de Coubertin,
11106 Narbonne

Tickets: ¬10-35 (¬40 for matches v Stade Français and Perpignan)

Travel connections: Narbonne is central to all three of Perpignan, Montpellier and Carcassone airports, all of which are served by low-cost airlines. The main road between Montpellier and Perpignan passes by, and there is a main road link to Carcassone as well. Narbonne has a smallish train station