La Rochelle, despite a big waste in touch and a strategy that probably needs to be reviewed, got the better of a very undisciplined but realistic Toulon (19-15) on Sunday for its entry into the Top 14.
A rematch of one of the June play-offs which saw the Maritimes win over the Rade (34-29), this Sunday clash was summed up as a match of missed opportunities for Ronan O’Gara’s men, who nevertheless ended up imposing their power.
By continually focusing on the penalty touch, or even the scrum instead of taking the points, with only a meager haul being this try by Tawera Kerr-Barlow (18), Rochelais were unable to break away from Toulon who were heavily penalised (11 penalties conceded at half-time, yellow cards received by Dan Biggar and Baptiste Serin).
Statistically, it was a small miracle to see the RCT only four points behind at half-time (7-3) as it was dominated in all areas, except realism.
On this point, the Varois did very well, with the initial penalty from Dan Biggar and the two sprinter tries from Gaël Dréan, first put into orbit by a marvelous deep foot pass from Baptiste Serin (48), then at the conclusion of a fantastic comeback from Jules Danglot (77) to snatch the defensive bonus.
This point is a performance value for Pierre Mignoni’s men, constantly on the back foot but who took advantage of the shortage of La Rochelle throwers in touch to stay in the game longer.
This could have turned more in favour of the locals, who scored two tries by Dylan Leyds on a well-managed extra man (52) and by the pillar George-Henri Colombe in the manner of an American footballer (69).
At that point (19-8), all that was missing was a try to enhance the almost certain success to come, but the blunders continued until Danglot’s escape and Dréan’s double which made the end of the match uncertain.
rap/bvo
