Ben White begins quest for Top 14 play-off glory - and bid to join fellow Scotland star in latter stages

The Scotland scrum-half has enjoyed an impressive first season in the Top 14 after he moved last summer following the collapse of his former club, London Irish. He helped Toulon to a fourth-place finish in the regular season and they will host La Rochelle, who finished fifth, at Stade Mayol on Saturday night.

White will start on the bench and a win for the home side would set up a play-off semi-final next weekend against his Scotland team-mate Blair Kinghorn whose Toulouse side ended up top of the standings and have qualified directly for the last four. Kinghorn, who moved to the French giants from Edinburgh in November, has already helped his new club win the Investec Champions Cup and is going for a double.

The other play-off last-eight tie sees Bordeaux take on Racing 92 on Sunday night, with the winners scheduled to meet Stade Francais in the semi-final. Both semis will be played at the Matmut Atlantique stadium in Bordeaux, home of Ligue 2 football club FC Girondins de Bordeaux.

Given the late finish to the French season, neither White or Kinghorn were included in the Scotland squad named this week for the summer tour of North and South America.

The Top 14 final is scheduled for Friday, June 28 and will take place in Marseille’s Velodrome this year because the Stade de France has been reserved for the summer Olympics in Paris.