3 Must-See Matches in Top 14 Round 11: Pau vs La Rochelle Will Be Unforgettable

The Top 14 Returns for Round 11

The Top 14 returns for Round 11 of its marathon 26-round season on November 29, as the tightly contested league in France continues to showcase clubs that — on any given week — can look like league and Champions Cup favorites or complete conundrums. The league is known for its unpredictable nature, with only 12 points separating the No. 12 team (Lyon) and the No. 1 team (Toulouse, at 34). Three teams have 30 points, with Pau and Stade Français both enjoying somewhat surprising seasons, while the back-to-back runner-up and defending champions of Europe, Bordeaux, is fifth on the table with a 6-0-4 record.

With the international season finished for 2025, the league is about to get even stronger. While most teams won’t have their international players back in the starting XV, the Top 14 slate includes at least three games that could come back and haunt the loser this round. Here are three must-watch matches in Round 11 of the Top 14 season.

Montpellier vs. Bordeaux-Bègles

The match between Montpellier and Bordeaux-Bègles is set for 8:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, November 29. Bordeaux is coming off a stunning 34-33 loss at home, which is starting to be uncommon in this league. One of the reasons the Top 14 is featuring so much parity this season is how good the home sides have been.

While that sentence seems evergreen for the Top 14, it’s a big reason why Lyon is 12th in the league but still has a 5-0-5 record. Only Perpignan has failed to win at home — but they haven’t won a match all season.

UBB dropping a match to Pau at home isn’t anything to be ashamed of — Pau could very well win every competition it’s in this season. But it means that to get back on track, UBB has to steal a road win somewhere, and playing an MHR club that is ninth on the table and fighting desperately to reenter the top eight is no easy task. Especially since MHR just won on the road itself — against the aforementioned Perpignan.

Clermont vs. Stade Français

The match between Clermont and Stade Français is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET on Saturday, November 29. Clermont, currently at 11th on the Top 14 table, just looks odd, as this club is rarely ever bad. But at 5-0-5, they haven’t been bad — they’ve simply lost twice at home, which is why they sit at .500 and would be in the Challenge Cup if the season ended today.

But it doesn’t. It just gets worse, though, if they suffer a third home loss in Michelin. Clermont lost to Toulouse in September and has played poorly on the road, losing to Bayonne 20-3 and 44-17 in two trips, and 43-24 last week against Lyon.

Two road games vs. Bayonne is probably the biggest reason they aren’t over .500, but picking up a win over the third-place team on the table would be massive. Speaking of Stade Français — after a poor 2024-2025 season, the Paris club is 6-0-4. They crushed the champs back in September, 28-7, and have held firm at home all season. But they are hunting for more road wins. So far, the only one has been against Montauban, the new team in the league, 47-24. Clermont dropped 84 points on Montauban earlier this season.

A win by Stade Français and we’ll have to start looking at them as serious contenders.

Pau vs. La Rochelle

The best match of the weekend gets the top time slot with a Sunday evening showdown between Pau — who scored the best win of the season last week against UBB — and La Rochelle, who just lost 19-17 at home to Castres. This match is more about La Rochelle and how the former two-time Investec Champions Cup winners will respond. La Rochelle is 5-0-5 and just three points ahead of 10th-place Clermont. Ronan O’Gara’s squad is trying to regain its dominant form, and taking a match over the No. 2 team in the league on the road would turn their vibes around.

For Pau, they are trying to keep pace with Toulouse, who is two points ahead and has two more bonus points than Pau, with matching 7-0-3 records.

Top 14 Rugby Standings 2025 After Round 10

Here are the latest standings after Round 10:

• Toulouse (34) – 7-0-3
• Section Paloise (32) – 7-0-3
• Stade Français Paris (30) – 6-0-4
• RC Toulon (29) – 6-0-4
• Union Bordeaux-Bègles (28) – 6-0-4
• Stade Rochelais (26) – 5-0-5
• Racing 92 (26) – 6-0-4
• Aviron Bayonnais (26) – 6-0-4
• Montpellier Hérault Rugby (24) – 4-1-5
• Castres Olympique (24) – 5-0-5
• ASM Clermont (23) – 5-0-5
• LOU Rugby (22) – 5-0-5
• US Montauban (7) – 1-1-8
• USA Perpignan (1) – 0-0-10

Team(Pts.) – W-D-L

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