Toulouse moves from one hemisphere to another to challenge the Sharks. 9,000 kilometers separated the reigning French champion from Durban, where Toulouse must face the South Africans on Saturday for the remainder of their group stage.
Leaders, Ugo Mola’s players have been perfect so far in the Champions Cup, with two victories against the Ulster Irish (61-21) and Exeter (21-64). If the course is already set for the round of 16, there is no question of wasting this long trip. Antoine Dupont and the Toulouse stars will be there at Kings Park, to the great astonishment of the Sharks. “I thought Toulouse was going to send its second team to Durban, but that doesn’t seem to be the case,” observed three-quarter center André Esterhuizen, in The Rugby Pod.
This meeting will perhaps also sound like revenge for the French internationals present in the Toulouse squad: it is the first time that they will face a South African team since the defeat against the Springboks in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup (28-29). “Of course memories will come back, but today the context is completely different, there is no story of revenge,” Antoine Dupont assured Friday, however.
The kickoff of the meeting between La Rochelle and Stade Toulouse is scheduled for this Saturday, January 11 at 4:15 p.m. The match will be followed on France 2 and beIN Sports 3.
