PARIS: The quarter-finals of the end-of-season Top 14 play-offs will pitch big-spending Parisian arch-rivals Stade Francais and Racing-Metro together while minnows Oyonnax face the tough task of heading to 19-time French champions Toulouse.
Stade suffered a shock 27-0 defeat by Brive in the final game of the regulation season last weekend, but club president Thomas Savare said he was happy not to have been drawn with either Toulouse or Oyonnax come this Friday.
"I think Racing are probably the best opponents we could play," Savare said.
"They're a team we respect, we fear. We'll thus have all the attention needed to prepare for this match."
Coach Gonzalo Quesada said the Racing clash was a double-edged sword.
"Frankly, we said to ourselves that we would have preferred to play Oyonnax, against whom we have lost twice," the former Argentina fly-half said.
"That would have given us a feeling of revenge. But now it's Racing, who we've beaten twice and it's they who will have that feeling of revenge."
Racing have enjoyed a topsy-turvy season, with a raft of top international stars failing to live up to their billing.
Dan Lydiate has already returned to Welsh region Ospreys, while Jonathan Sexton and Jamie Roberts are also heading for Leinster and Harlequins respectively next season, although All Black star Dan Carter has signed up.
The performance by many in the latest Parisian derby won 28-19 by a 14-man Stade side left Racing president Jacky Lorenzetti fuming.
They rebounded with a sparkling 53-10 victory over Castres last week, but are sure to face a torrid welcome when they travel across town to Stade Francais' Jean Bouin stadium.
After dicing with relegation back to the ProD2 last year, Oyonnax have this year made history by securing a play-off spot in only their second season in the Top 14.
It is a remarkable achievement for the Christophe Urios-coached team that represents a town of just 23,000 inhabitants in the unfashionable rugby area of eastern France and also operates on the smallest budget in the elite French league.
Fired by the dependable boot of Argentinian fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta and able to field a solid pack, Oyonnax have now become a team no one in the Top 14 takes lightly.
"I knew this club had a real potential," acknowledged coach Urios, who is off to coach Castres next term a club he won the French title with as a player and previously coached in 2002-05.
"It has some real values, an identity, even if it's hard to be seen," added Urios, who has been at the helm of Oyonnax since 2007.
Flanker Olivier Missoup added: "The squad's spirit is really to remain focused on performance.
"It's not to look if we're small. We've had a good experience of going and winning at big clubs during the season.
"Appearing in the play-offs is nothing like it. It's a new experience for the squad and we'll give our all."
Urios said he had initially told his team they had a 20 percent chance of winning the match.
"That's what I said to my players. From there, we'll put in place some work to increase that percentage throughout the week and arrive at 50 percent.
"In any case, our season is a success. What bad can happen to us? I just hope we won't be scared of winning the match."
Toulouse coach Guy Noves, now in the running to take over from Philippe Saint-Andre as France coach, was quick to heap praise on Oyonnax.
The eastern club had "strength in character, quality in the basics of the game and also intelligence in their adaptation to the Top 14".
"There are also some players who make the difference and it is all these factors that ensure that Oyonnax are qualified for next season's European Cup."
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