“After five minutes, I was already looking at the clock,” admits Antoine Dupont after the victory against the Sharks

Stade Toulouse captain Antoine Dupont had a “mixed feeling” after Toulouse’s victory without a bonus on Saturday in Durban at the Sharks, fearing that the point left on the way could be a source of regret during the final stages of the Champions Cup. “We knew this trip would be complicated” more “this point would have been important” said Dupont at a press conference after the match won 20-8.

“We must be satisfied with victory” but Toulouse could have had the offensive bonus “given the scenario of the match, especially the first half where we were unable to score”he admitted. Toulouse, leading Group 1 after two days, ceded first place to Union Bordeaux-Bègles, who went for a third offensive bonus at Exeter at the same time.

First place in a group allows you to enter the round of 16 and the quarter-finals, and a 20/20 now ensures you do the same in the semi-finals. “Two years ago, we only took four points at Sale and three months later we lost the semi-final at Leinster and we regretted it”recalled the scrum-half.

“The team is completely washed out”

He notably explained that he and his partners “never knew how to set up the game like [ils] wanted it”the fault of “a slippery ball” with the difficult weather conditions (30 degrees, 80% humidity at kick-off). “It was very hard physically due to the conditions. From the start of the match, I think we made a lot of hand mistakes, also due to this sweating, this humidity in the air. The ball was really slippery and that didn’t allow us to score when we had moments of domination.”

And conclude: “Honestly, after five minutes, I was already looking at the clock and thinking it was going to be very long. But it was the same for both teams. It’s a difficult match, but we’re not used to these conditions in France. We tried to prepare, to arrive earlier in the week, but when we play a match, it’s not the same thing. Yes, it was a very tough match…”