It goes without saying that Stade Toulouse dominated their duel in the Top 14 final head and shoulders (59-3). And this clear superiority is reflected in the statistics of the meeting.
The biggest gap in the French championship final
The record was largely broken this Friday evening at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille. 56 points difference separated Toulouse and Girondins. The previous marks belonged to Racing, winner 37-3 against Stade Bordeaux, in 1900. Post-War, in 1998, it was Usap which lost to Stade Français in style (34-7). A gap of 27 points observed again eight years later, during the Biarritz triumph against Toulouse.
And what about all those points missed at the foot (13) by the Rouge et Noir, which could have made the score even worse…
Gross indiscipline in the first 25 minutes
Of course, the scoreboard went crazy in the second half. And that’s what allowed Toulouse to write history. But the first exchanges were undoubtedly decisive. As evidenced by the UBB’s all kinds of figures from the first 25 minutes: 5 penalties conceded, 1 yellow card, and already three tries conceded…
If the Girondins defense was not up to par (9 missed tackles against 5), the rest was not much better: 129 meters covered with the ball in hand (against 201), 0 crossings (against 3) and only 1 turnover won (against 4).
A duel of the forwards without appeal
Likewise, the 10 penalties conceded in total by Bordeaux-Bègles are undoubtedly not a reflection of what was observed on the pitch. But one point is that 9 of these 10 penalties were committed by forwards (Tameifuna, Boniface, Cazeaux…).
On the other hand, the three lost touches symbolize the poor performance of UBB (the first of them offered a try at the Stadium, the second could have offered another, without the video call).
Toulouse’s offensive triumph
And when the Haut-Garonnais let loose, not much was able to stop them: 659 metres covered with the ball in hand (against 315 for the UBB), 149 runs (against 75), 31 defenders beaten (against 10), 10 crossings (against 1), or even 16 passes after contact (against 5).
