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The Saint Barthélemy Barracudas currently have one win and one loss in the league, placing them fourth in the overall standings. Still on track to make the playoffs at the end of the season, a win on Saturday against Saint Martin would be welcome. "We want to get back to simple rugby and stick to our game plan, being more precise in the details, which is important. In front of our home crowd, we'll have the right attitude and the drive we need to play a good game. No matter what happens or how the game unfolds on Saturday, we have to give it our all for 80 minutes and never let up," says captain Gabriel Pont. While his team is undergoing a process of renewal and rebuilding, the same cannot be said for their neighbors from Saint-Martin. After reaching the championship final three years ago, the Archiballs have been treading water for the past two years, but since this summer and a transfer window that has brought quality and quantity to their squad, the Archis have new ambitions for this season. Archiball coach Arthur Grocq warns: "This North Islands derby is one of the most important games of the year for us. We know the history between these two clubs. After that, it's the same for the Barras and the Archis. It's difficult to field a full team away from home, so we didn't take their defeat at Les Abymes into account when preparing for this match. We're coming with what we have at the moment to win away from home, and we know that victory won't be easy to achieve!" Indeed, it is the third-placed team that is traveling to the fourth-placed team's ground. Both teams, still in a good position in the standings to make the playoffs, will certainly not want to settle for that in this 2025/2026 version of the Northern Islands derby, which will be played on Saturday at the Saint-Jean stadium, starting at 7 p.m.
