Dupont, Cros, Baille, Ramos or even Jelonch on one side, Penaud, Bielle-Biarrey, Jalibert or Lucu on the other… The internationals of the XV of France were not on the scoresheet this Saturday evening during of Toulouse’s victory against Union Bordeaux-Bègles (29-22). Peato Mauvaka was on the bench and his entry was good because Stade Toulousain had long been in difficulty against a pragmatic Bordeaux-Bègles team. With this success, Ugo Mola’s men reach fifth place. The Girondins leave without the defensive bonus.
Under the eyes of Romain Ntamack, victim of a cruciate ligament rupture before the start of the World Cup and present in the stands, the Toulouse forwards were manhandled by a particularly fierce Girondin pack. After a long sequence in the opposing camp, the Girondins opened the scoring via a try from Ducuing in the corner (9th). Dominated in the winning phases, notably by Tatafu, omnipresent for his first under his new colors, the Haut-Garonnais logically returned to the locker room with a deficit of eight points (8-16).
The appearance of the meeting gradually changed with the entry of the Toulouse bench, symbolized by Ahki, Arnold, Capuozzo and Mauvaka. The latter, after a pressure game behind the defense, allowed Germain to score the liberating try (73rd) to put his team in front for the first time on the scoreboard (21-19) . Capuozzo secured the win with a confusing try (75th), and Germain’s drop (80th) erased the visitors’ last hope created by Holmes’ penalty (77th) to leave with a defensive bonus point. The Unionists suffered a 4th consecutive loss against Toulouse, and have not won since 2021 against Ugo Mola’s men.
For the French champion, the rest will involve a trip to the championship leader at the end of this 4th day, the Section Paloise, Sunday November 5 (9:05 p.m.), before the reception in Perpignan (Saturday November 11, 3:00 p.m.). For the UBB, the rest of the season will involve the reception in Montpellier (Saturday November 4, 5 p.m.) then a perilous trip to Pau (Saturday November 11, 5 p.m.).