SEVERE weather conditions forced the postponement of the weekend’s top clash between Albi and Carcassonne while the Limoux versus St Gaudens game was abandoned after 20 minutes.
At Albi a violent thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rain led to the plug being pulled on the top-two tussle.
At Limoux, with the home side 10-0 ahead, the referee took the teams off before abandoning the game as a deluge threatened.
One week away from the end of the regular season, the federation must quickly decide when these matches can be rearranged.
The play-offs are scheduled to begin on the weekend of May 3/4, with the third, fourth, fifth and sixth-placed teams involved.
Those positions – the third and fourth-placed teams are rewarded with a home tie – are still to be settled.
St Estève-XIII Catalan, with a bye coming up, ended their regular fixtures with a narrow 22-18 win at seventh-placed Villefranche which kept them in third.
Pia, with a massive 76-0 rout of winless Toulouse (who have conceded 196 points in their last three games), have a chance to go above Catalans’ second string, but have the difficult task of facing Carcassonne away.
Lézignan edged past Avignon to win 20-18, each side scoring three tries with Paul Momirovski’s four goals making the difference before here too, a thunderstorm arrived towards the end of the game.
Results
Lézignan 20 Avignon 18
Pia 76 Toulouse 0
Villefranche 18 St Estève-XIII Catalan 22
Albi v Carcassonne – postponed
Limoux v St Gaudens – abandoned after 20 minutes
Bye: Villeneuve
Fixtures
Saturday 26 April
Avignon v Limoux 17:00
Toulouse v Villefranche 16:00
Villeneuve v Lézignan 18:00
Sunday 27 April
Carcassonne v Pia 16:00
St Gaudens v Albi 15:30
Bye: St Estève-XIII Catalan
Table
Albi 45 pts
Carcassonne 44 pts
St Estève-XIII Catalan 43 pts
Pia 42 pts
Limoux 37 pts
Villeneuve 36 pts
Villefranche 31 pts
St Gaudens 28 pts
Lézignan 28 pts
Avignon 24 pts
Toulouse 4 pts
