Following Toulouse’s 38-26 victory over Harlequins in the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals, here are five takeaways from the game played at the Stade de Toulouse.
top line
In a match that unfolded at breakneck pace and was peppered with loose play and mistakes, but punctuated by absolute brilliance with the ball in hand from both flanks, Toulouse ousted a dominant Harlequins side and secured a sixth They advanced to the Investec Champions Cup final.
Toulouse had six tries, four from Matisse Lebel, Piet Mauvaca, Thibault Flamand and Antoine Dupont (two goals), while for Quins Juan Cruz Maria scored four tries, Marcus Smith and Will Evans scored four tries. , Kadan Marley and Tyrone Green broke through the whitewash. .
Quins may regret the first 20 minutes. Their response to avoid contact was not up to standard, and their early explosion ended with Dupont scoring two points in seven minutes from close range. In a much-improved second half, with the visitors winning 14-7, Quins number eight Alex Dombrandt admitted after the game that he viewed this as a missed opportunity, saying one could have gotten off to a hot start. The other means that we failed to respond. Toulouse displayed overwhelming power in the early exchanges.
Antoine Dupont doubles Toulouse to set up Champions Cup title showdown with Leinster
best team
Even after Dombrandt’s self-criticism, even the most ardent Quins fan has to admit that Toulouse were better on the day by a small margin.
Harlequins will be furious about the lineout work. Flament’s first steal created a chance for Romain Ntamak to take the lead with a great pass to Lebel.
A few minutes later, there was another spectacular fall at the start of the move, when the Toulouse hooker sent in a cross for his team’s second goal. What made the difference in the early stages was the accuracy of the hosts in contact. It was controlled and precise. The players posted huge longs in ruck time to prevent Quinn’s hands from stealing or ruining them.
Francois Cross won the Player of the Match award once again for his 20 tackles (6 of which were favorable) and 12 carries, but his tireless efforts on both sides of the ball in the first half were rewarded in the collision. It was nothing short of remarkable because of the confusion it caused. .
We saw Dupont, who has the ability to attack from almost nothing when it mattered, get two short-range chances, but some eagle-eyed among Quins fans , no doubt asking whether Blair Kinghorn was onside while chasing the kick that created the first chance.
Nevertheless, great teams win in close situations and there is no doubt that Toulouse managed to overcome those incidents and despite the efforts of Smith and his excellent backline, They emerged as a good team and fully deserved the win.
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Troubles due to breakdown in the first half
For all the handling fireworks we saw, Toulouse had an absolute advantage at the breakdown, which was central to this victory. Particularly in the first half, Cross, Maubaka and Flamand created mini-racks and wreaked havoc on Quinn’s attempts to speed up the game. . The ferocity of the French in the floor contest was quite remarkable.
It combined intelligence and violence. Mauvaka’s work in the corner sparked a dirty ball that pressured Danny Care to the point of gifting Flament a try. Cross is probably the form player in Europe now and did something similar in the build-up channels that produced the second Dupont. try.
On the other side of the ball, it was all Toulouse. When you have a forward of Emmanuel Mehu’s size at your disposal, their ability to draw defenders into competition and create width to the outside with numerical mismatches is a proven way to win rugby matches, and Toulouse was absolutely brutal on carries and clears. their own ball.
There is no doubt that Quins had the firepower to trouble the hosts, but sadly for them they narrowly lost the important game as their breakdown control will always be important.
second half rally
Quins were attacked in the first game, and the conversation before and after half-time was all about speed on the ball to negate the power of Toulouse’s forwards. Andre Esterhuizen, Joe Marler, Evans and Dom Brandt challenged low and fast, using their speed of thought to clamp down on the ball before the clearing player arrived and grab crucial turnovers.
Once the ball was taken away, the visitors did everything they could to get it into the hands of the speed merchant at the back, and Green’s try, which started with a great offload, was a testament to the brilliance of him, Marley and Marley. was. Luis Raina, all contributed to the great score.
But just when it looked like Quins were about to take one out of the bag again, Jack Walker, who was trying to clear, made head contact with Dupont, forcing Andrew Blais to give the hooker a yellow card. lost. Toulouse ended the match with Maria scoring from the ensuing lineout.
The head contact incident was a fair decision. It was rebroadcast at least five times by French television directors before the referee addressed the sanction. However, it was an utter disgrace that 10 minutes earlier Ntamak had clearly shown shoulder-to-head contact with Esterhuizen, yet the same manager showed nothing further about the incident. influence the flow of the match. It will be interesting to see if the Toulouse fly-half is mentioned after the game, but it will be of no consolation to the visitors who looked to have had a very hard time following the incident.
I’m looking forward to Toulouse
Toulouse have nothing to fear going into the final against Leinster, whom they beat in Dublin three seasons ago.
They have the power up front and the skill to score a lot of points at the back, and with their support and assistance, lesser-known players such as Paul Costes, Rubel, Alexandre Luma and Maria have played really hard. He is playing well. Two British imports, Kinghorn and Jack Willis, two guys who were absolutely successful with Rouge et Noir.
But it will be their breakdown power that will decide the match and this will be a heavyweight clash against a superbly disciplined Leinster team with an equally honed and skilful back five in the pack.
Direct confrontation is tantalizing. The Jamison Gibson Park game against Dupont alone is worth the price of admission, but along with that, Cross vs. Ryan Baird, Willis vs. Josh van der Flier, and Meahoo vs. Joe McCarthy. Yes, both are world-class players in their own right.
From what we saw this weekend, there are very few differences between the two sides, and the 2024 Investec Champions Cup looks set to be exactly what it should be: the best teams facing off for the ultimate club prize. There’s no question about it.
The match against Tottenham Hotspur on May 25th is definitely the best place to be.
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