If Emmanuel Meafou was logically elected man of the match during Toulouse’s victory at the Sharks, and if Blair Kinghorn or Anthony Jelonch also showed themselves to their advantage, the captain of the Sprigboks Siya Kolisi was very disappointing.
The tops:
Author of the first powerful essaywhich brings his total to three in the competition this season in as many matches, the second row once again proved how much he knows how to be decisive in this type of meeting. In the game, he was also omnipresent. Served on multiple occasions by his partners, he made very few errors and above all constantly placed his team in the lead. Extremely valuable.
If the competition is raging on the wing on the Toulouse side, Blair Kinghorn undeniably scored points this Saturday. In the middle of a first half during which Toulouse made a lot of blunders despite their domination, he had already done well by showing himself to his advantage under high balls and finding space in the opposing defense. Rewarded with a flattened try at the start of the second period, he generally made himself very available.
In a meeting where the Stadistes sometimes lacked precision and controlit was obviously, first and foremost, about gaining the upper hand in physical intensity to emerge victorious. And, in this dimension, Anthony Jelonch was very dominant against the Sharks. As usual, the third line had a big slaughter in defense, including some huge buffers. But he was also active offensively, with several notable charges. Enough to reassure about his state of freshness before the Blues list.
The flops:
He is inevitably one of the big disappointments of this match on the Sharks side. In addition to his gross foul on Thomas Ramos, when he dove on a player on the ground, he was especially very absent in the game. Not very impactful, and even strangely not very present in defense, the captain of the double world champions Springboks did not clearly had the expected influence. Not sufficient given its standing.
In the absence of Aphelele Fassi, the usual starter at the back, he experienced a great first this Saturday. Indeed, the young Hakeem Kunene (21 years old) had never started a match with the Sharks. And, for his second appearance in the Champions Cup, he was not at ease. Hesitating on a play at the foot of Romain Ntamack which ended in 50/22, he was also non-existent on the offensive level. And he was replaced at the break.
Notes from Toulouse
15. Thomas Ramos: 6/10
14. Blair Kinghorn : 6,5/10
13. Pierre-Louis Barassi: 6/10
12. Santiago Chocobares, replaced in the 25th minute by Juan Cruz Mallia: 5.5/10
11. Matthis Lebel : 6/10
10. Romain Ntamack : 6/10
9. Antoine Dupont : 5,5/10
8. Jack Willis : 6/10
7. Anthony Jelonch : 6,5/10
6. François Cros: 6/10
5. Emmanuel News : 7/10
4. Thibaud Flament: 6/10
3. Dorian Aldegheri : 6/10
2. Peato Mauvaka : 5,5/10
1. Rodrigue Neti : 5/10
