Authors of a very good second half, the Toulonnais finally won (54-19). The Varois have long been hooked by Vannes and their reshuffled team. The Bretons were very interesting for an hour before breaking down. The RCT will have to forget its first catastrophic act but will console itself with these five points acquired.
Like the first three days, Vannes starts badlyas Karl Chateau pointed out during the break on Canal + : “We got off to a bad start once again like in the first three matches. We were undisciplined. We let them come to us while they were against the wind and we recovered little by little,” Robin Taccola had then just received a yellow card, the first for the Morbihannais this season, and Toulon was quick to score the first try of the match on the ball carried thanks to Teddy Baubigny. Vannes dominates this first period, but comes up against at the Toulon defensive curtain. In terms of experience, the Varois were rewarded on their second foray thanks to Brian Alainu’uese.
Learning at a very high level then seemed cruel for the Bretons who were nevertheless playing with the wind at their backs. The wheel will finally turn for Jean-Noël Spitzer’s men. Pierre Mignoni’s protégés suffered pressure from Vannes and the champion of the last Pro D2 was initially rewarded by Thomas Moukoro. The Morbihannais were launched and pushed their host into a series of seven consecutive fouls, to first play fifteen against fourteen at the end of the first period after a yellow card issued to Facundo Isa, then to come back to level thanks to Romaric Camou. At the break, the two teams were tied, much to the chagrin of Charles Ollivon: “That’s not what we want.he declared on microphone Canal +. We work poorly. We’re not trying hard enough. We are under pressure.”
Toulon, outnumbered, blows up Vannes
Vannes starts the second half the same way it ended the first. After a lot of work from Jules Le Bail, Thibault Debaes found Francis Sailli perfectly who gave his team the advantage. Marius Domon responds from the following downbeat. Well served in the corner by Ben White, the rear resists two tackles to flatten. Enzo Hervé’s foot then allowed the Toulonnais to regain the advantage. The Bretons had the opportunities to get back in front, but lacked pragmatism, preferring to play with three points. From experience, the Varois will make the break again thanks to a nice combination of Baptiste Serin and Charles Ollivon, concluded by the scrum half who came into play a few minutes earlier. Fifteen minutes from time, Jean-Baptiste Gros definitely leaves his friends at fourteen after a nasty clearing on Tani Vali. This numerical inferiority does not frighten Pierre Mignoni’s men and will even seal the fate of the match. Leicester Fainga’anuku shows his power to score a fifth try. The score is heavy, but growing.
In the action that followed, Setariki Tuicuvu scored the Varois’ sixth try and offered the offensive bonus to his team. The five points will be definitively secured by Toulon following a marvel of action concluded by Gianmarco Lucchesi. Just before the siren, Dany Priso will allow his team to pass the anecdotal bar of 50 points. In the end, the match ended with a scathing 54-19, a harsh score for Thibault Debaes: “I think it’s tough mentally because, for me, the score doesn’t really reflect the match. We’re proud to have shown a good state of mind for 60, 65 minutes. We missed small details . We collapsed at the end of the match.”
Vannes will welcome, at the opening of the 5th day, Racing 92 and will try to win a second success at La Rabine while Toulon will travel to Marcel Michelin to face Clermont and confirm its good start to the season in what is a classic of the last decade.
