Tops
Arriving this week to replace Melvyn Jaminet, who left for Toulon, Blair Kinghorn did not need much time to endear himself to Toulouse supporters. Author of a double (25th, 80th), the Scottish full-back was one of the major players in his team’s success and was comfortable covering, with several high balls to negotiate in his 22 meters.
Having struggled in recent weeks, undoubtedly dulled by the difficult aftermath of the World Cup, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Dupont dazzled with their class in this Champions Cup meeting. Imperial on the restart and in his game at the foot of occupation, the opener from Haut-Garonne is at the origin of three tries for his team. Voted man of the match, he also scored 13 points against the poles thanks to a flawless performance (6-6). For his part, the Toulouse captain and scrum-half turned many heads in the Welsh defense. Constantly supporting his partners, Antoine Dupont distributed numerous caviars as evidenced by his two assists. Very committed defensively, he also recovered a ground penalty at the start of the match.
With only four matches left in the group stage, a misstep could have been seriously detrimental to Stade Toulousain, which remains in two semi-finals in the competition. It did not happen. Rediscovering their iconic handplay, the Rouge et Noir crushed the Welsh of Cardiff (52-7), scoring a whopping seven tries synonymous with an offensive bonus. An ideal start before traveling to Harlequins on December 17. Behind, Ugo Mola’s men will go to Ulster on January 13 before hosting Bath on January 21.
Very playful in the first act, the Welsh benefited from numerous highlights in the Toulouse 22 meters, notably after two magnificent breakthroughs from Tinus De Beer (32nd) and Mason Grady (34th). But when they returned to the locker room, Cardiff had only crossed the line once, through Mackenzie Martin (23rd), and were well behind, 31 to 7. On returning from the locker room, despite new sequences in the scoring zones, Teddy Williams’ teammates were too imprecise and did not score a single point.
This is undoubtedly the only downside of the beautiful Toulouse evening. In great difficulty in the closed scrum sector, the Toulouse forwards were penalized four times, including twice on their introductions. The front eight, on the other hand, showed itself to be very fair in the running game and was rewarded by tries from Richie Arnold (9th), Anthony Jelonch (38th) and Alban Placines.