Certainly combative, the Toulonnais were far too clumsy and undisciplined to hope to compete with the Toulouse ogre. What a spanking!
Capitalized in the days of dad's rugby, the poster between Stade Toulouse and the RCT has certainly lost a little of its luster in recent years but remains, at least on paper, one of the great meetings of our noblest weekends of the Top 14. Although deprived of several of his executives, all injured during the last match against Montpellier (Leicester Fainga'anuku, Duncan Paia'aua and Baptiste Serin), Pierre Mignoni had nevertheless fielded a team that was a priori competitive . At the back of the field, two former septists were tasked with lighting a few sparks: the first (Rayan Rebbadj), gold medalist at the last Paris Olympics, was celebrating his second start of the season when the second (Gabin Villière ), recently returned to favor in the eyes of national coach Fabien Galthié, was expected at the same level of performance as previous weekends.
At the hinge, Enzo Hervé and Baptiste Serin had the heavy task of making us forget the usual holders Paolo Garbisi and Baptiste Serin when within the forward pack, Mignoni and his deputies had handed over the captaincy to David Ribbans, on alternating current the latter time, and wanted to relaunch two former Toulouse players in this match, namely Yannick Youyoutte and Selevasio Tolofua: these, more than disappointing since their arrival in the Var two seasons ago, were offered, facing their “ex”, a golden chance to prove to the Var leaders that after months of wandering on the French Riviera, they had finally decided to step up their game. From then on? The result is not glorious, comrades. The Varois sank at the Stadium, conceding eight tries and more than fifty points in the pink city from an opponent who was still very far from his best level, Sunday evening…
Undisciplined and clumsy
Although aggressive in the first half, the Toulonnais, dominated in closed scrums and too undisciplined, quickly let the French champions lead the way, simply responding with a strong try flattened just before the break by hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi. The second period started just as badly for the Varois, who quickly conceded a third try… followed by a few others. Taken and more by the physical challenge, too often overwhelmed by the speed of execution of the locals and relatively clumsy in their transmissions, the Varois even finished the meeting as simple spectators of the Toulouse surges. Obviously, the Var team, on alternating current since the start of the season, is very far from having reassured its supporters before receiving the Lou at Mayol, for a match which already smells of fear…
