The French club, currently 12th in the Top 14, will be spending some time in Faro in the south of Portugal in a training camp. This is during the hiatus from 27 January to 24 March in Top 14 activities while international matches go on.

For Montpellier this is a vital time, haunted as they are by the spectre of relegation. They are one point above Brive and two points above Bayonne and just a point below Narbonne. The bottom of the Top 14 is cluttered.

For Portugal it is also a vital time. In three successive weeks they will have played against Morocco twice and then Spain. But their next matches are home and away against Uruguay in March.

The possible dates for a practice match between Montpellier and Portugal are 25 February or 4 March.