Toulon was jostled and produced a mixed performance, but Toulon leaves with its first victory of the season (19-14) against Bayonne this Saturday, during the 2nd day of Top 14. Excellent, Baptiste Serin has highlighted in a closed encounter until it comes into play.
Because the first 50 minutes were very dull between the Basques who came to make a move but were cautious, relying on the precise footwork of Camille Lopez to put pressure on the third curtain of the RCT. Hervé capitalized on the rare situations of his team (6-0) until the 47th.
With the wind, Rowing took advantage of the power of its forwards to take the lead via the Argentinian second line, Paulos (6-7, 48th). Serin then changed everything: entered in the 48th minute, the scrum half dynamited the game and gave impetus to the Var attacks. Returning to Toulon on Wednesday evening after learning that he was not part of the group selected to play the World Cup with the Blues, Serin had been placed on the bench at the request of his manager.
After a first heat stroke (63rd) where Callandret saved the visitors, Serin showed opportunism to score the first try of the game (64th): on a penalty 25 meters from the posts, Hervé found the post and the former Bordeaux scrum half was the quickest to flatten in the in-goal (65th).
The Basques, they also showed realism to pick up in stride via a nice acceleration from Callandret (67th). Hervé’s foot overall made the difference (14 points, 4 penalties and 1 conversion) and after a drop attempt that could have turned into a disaster, Luc put an end to the game.
The Varois will be keen to confirm the success of this first test with another ambitious championship player, UBB (Sunday September 3, 9:05 p.m.) for the last meeting before the break due to the World Cup. The Bayonnais, they will follow a second trip to Castres (Saturday September 2, 5:00 p.m.