Nine tries scored, an unforgettable consecration, Toulouse humiliated UBB in the Top 14 final. But it is above all the superiority of Ugo Mola’s men in the field of ground play, physical power, which will have made the difference and allowed Stade Toulouse to almost always play in advance. For a scenario that is ultimately quickly readable and inevitable.
“We were bad in the ground game, that’s the big downside.” Although qualified for the Top 14 final, Ugo Mola ranted at the end of the semi-final against La Rochelle about his team’s ineffectiveness in reigning in this very important sector of modern rugby, especially in the final phase. We lose nine or ten rucks, that’s way too many. We have six or seven days to get back on track in the rucks and the ball carries.”
The message was clear. And we can say that it was damn well understood by his men, his faithful warriors, in the championship final. So we could talk to you about the mastery of Antoine Dupont, the brilliant Thomas Ramos and Romain Ntamack, the impressive Chocobares and Mallia, who are definitely jacks of all trades in this Toulouse team. But it was above all the superiority of the Red and Black in each collision, in most of the contact and ruck phases that impressed from our perch at the Vélodrome.
Playing in the forward direction, the key to success
In this one-sided final, the UBB will not have existed for long. Never, even. The team managed by Yannick Bru seemed very young against the experienced Toulouse ogre, and the recurring criticisms made of this Gironde team in terms of its supposed tenderness at the highest level were obvious on the Vélodrome lawn. Their inability to challenge Toulouse close to the rucks (Dupont’s first try), to put their game in place, never allowed them to put their arrows from the back lines into the light.
On the Stadiste side, it is not incongruous to think that the semi-final against Stade Rochelais was a blessing in disguise. A sort of general warning. One action sums up this undivided domination well: in the 36th minute, and while Toulouse was already leading 22 to 3 on the scoreboard, an elephantine counter-ruck from Chocobares, Ramos, Akhi, Cros and Dupont gave the champions the penalty. In title. And seeing the angry reaction of the best player of the match – Dupont – it seemed obvious that the winners of Leinster in the Champions Cup final had decided to bring out the spiked helmet.
There is also a striking similarity with the performance against the Boys in Blue where the Haut-Garonnais had demonstrated a formidable bestiality to undermine McCarthy’s teammates. Toulouse defended much less against Union Bordeaux-Bègles. They did not need to. But they devoured their opponent in all areas of the game, starting with the physical confrontation. Seeing them thus inflict a lethal carried ball after 70 minutes of total supremacy (5th try scored by Julien Marchand) was both stunning and almost cruel for the Girondins whose season did not deserve such an end.
In the end, Stade Toulousain put in its best performance in the last match of the season to clinch the 23rd Brennus in its history. This was not always the case in the past despite often similar results. This time, there is no doubt, the great Toulouse won. And no one, oh no one will be able to contest it.
