Following a 20-8 victory for Toulouse against the Sharks in the Investec Champions Cup clash, here’s our five takeaways from Saturday’s meeting at Kings Park.
The top line
Toulouse continued their march towards a record seventh Champions Cup star as an immense display of forward power, typified by the Player of the Match performance from Emmanuel Meafou, saw the visitors home as they scored two tries to one in the cauldron of the KwaZuluNatal coast in the middle of summer.
Toulouse’s scores came from Meafou and the outstanding Blair Kinghorn, but their lack of continuity and inability to retain possession meant they missed out on a bonus point, something they probably deserved on balance, given their dominance in the match.
There’s little doubt that this was a game that strained at the leash to breakout of the sweat pit of Durban in January, but never managed to do so, much to the disappointment of all watching. With so many Test players going head to head, and set in the backdrop of the controversial Springbok quarter-final win in the World Cup, the watching public demanded a gladiatorial battle, a running game to the death, but that never quite happened despite the players trying their darndest to get tempo into the match.
For Toulouse, whilst they’ll be annoyed at their inefficiency, their biggest concern will be the neck and head injury to their brilliant centre, Argentina’s Santiago Chocobares, who got his head the wrong side in a tackle and never got up again. With Pita Ahki also injured and Paul Costes thought to be out of form, there will be an anxious wait on the fitness of the Puma, a high price to pay for the visitors who are in contention for both the Champions Cup and the Top 14.
Change of focus
The focus of the build-up was coming to see the genius of Antoine Dupont but the Kings Park faithful walked away in awe of the Toulouse back three in the shape of the magnificent Thomas Ramos, the superb Kinghorn and supporting act of the eager Matthis Lebel, and the sheer rumbling beef of the Toulouse pack, and their centrepiece, Meafou.
The French full-back was in impish form, returning kicks with interest rates so high they could have been stolen from a payday loan company and everything Toulouse did well stemmed from him or his eager cohort Kinghorn, today playing on the right wing.
The pair provided the moment of the match as Ramos ran hard down the Sharks left and cut inside into traffic; Kinghorn offered himself on the outside line from where the full-back had cut in from and Ramos obliged with a magnificent reverse offload to stand the host defence up and see Kinghorn fly around for a try out of the highest creative drawer.
In South Africa, the land of physical rugby, the most powerful impact game in the shape of the huge Meafou, a man who made carry after carry (14 of them) for some 40 metres, but crucially the opening try, predictably from short range as Dupont opened a lovely hole with a little pump pass before the behemoth lock got his mitts on the ball to crash over.
A word too for the Toulouse back-row – they won the breakdown contest hands down, with Jack Willis and Francois Cros putting in epic shifts of tireless commitment and niggling defence, as both flankers crossed the 20 tackle mark and both hit 20 plus ruck clearances in an outstanding outing for the world class partnership, with Anthony Jelonch reminded all of his carrying power as he continues his return to rugby.
Heated battle
For a game so eagerly anticipated, the weather gods provided an absolute oven for the players as Durban provided 31 degrees of heat and some 90% humidity for the players. In a day made more for swinging a ball around Kingsmead just over the traffic lights than swinging a ball around Kings Park, the number of unforced handling errors were legion, in part caused by the sweat, grease and moisture on ball and hands, and the other part, by Toulouse’s propensity to look for the miracle offload or the killer pass.
Perhaps it was overcomplication, especially by the visitors, but the manner the Sharks responded to the speed and power of the Toulouse backline was typified by their brilliant scramble defence and ability to throw numbers into contact when handling the ball away from contact was so tricky due to the conditions.
In the first half, it’s fair to say Toulouse left two or three scores out there – notably the Romain Ntamack break where he could have backed himself to gas to the line or step out to set up space for the supporting runners.
But the big difference between the two sides was the effectiveness of the Toulouse kicking game. When handling doesn’t work the boot is a clear point of differentiation for them and some of the touch kicks from Dupont at the base were absolutely breathtaking, often hitting up 40 metres in clearance, and with Ntamack joining in for a raking 65 metre 50/22 and both Kinghorn and Ramos using the boot intelligently they got behind the Sharks rush and pin them back in their own half, creating pressure on the hosts as they were forced to run out or clear kick to counter attackers, before the pair combined to create the opening score of the second half.
Set-piece surprises
The popular script before the match was the strength of the Toulouse lineout and the power of the Sharks front-row, but rugby is a cruel mistress and both of those predictions were turned right on their heads as Toulouse gave the all-Bok front-row a torrid time, underlined by the moment when Dorian Aldegheri gave the great Ox Nche his wings as he lifted the loosehead clean out of the scrum in the first half. In truth, the battle wasn’t won emphatically, but there’s little doubt that Toulouse’s front-row did a job on their opposite numbers. On the flip side, Toulouse missed Alexandre Roumat enormously in their lineout. When Meafou plays, your restart focus has to be your back-row jumpers and for all his clatter and power, Anthony Jelonch isn’t the force that Roumat is in securing safe ball.
With Toulouse clearly getting the better of the breakdown, despite a spirited spoiling display by the Sharks, where Phepsi Buthelezi and Siya Kolisi emptied their considerable tanks. However the Sharks should thank Luke Pearce, who generally had an outstanding match, for their eight points – the first three came from a misread of Jack Willis’ clean and clearly legal jackal, but the English referee suggested Willis had put his hands in front of the ball, despite replays showing otherwise. In the second half, with great irony, Trevor Nyakane was rewarded for a jackal that ignited the move for the Jurenzo Julies try, despite clearly touching ground before the lift.
The fourth set-piece, the aerial battle, was game set and match to the visitors, with Kinghorn and Juan Cruz Mallia dominating the airways as they were fed brilliantly by Dupont’s clearing accuracy from the base and Ramos’ raking up and unders or touch finders.
The big question
The big question before the game from the South African fans was is Dupont the player that many suggest he is? In a day that was horrendous for handling, the scrum-half made more errors than usual and there’s no doubt that had he been surer in his handling on occasions then Toulouse may have got that elusive bonus point.
But the statistics tell a clear tale of his influence. 10 clean line breaks for 138 metres topped the match statistics by a distance. He made 19 tackles, not far behind the bar set by the brilliant Toulouse back-row and his ability to get others through holes and to control attacking points was at a different level to Jaden Hendrikse, also a Test scrum-half.
It wasn’t Dupont’s best outing by a long distance, but even on a day where the conditions were draining and exhausting, there’s little doubt the great scrum-half was the most influential back on the pitch. He may not have made the moments that Ramos created, but the space others get from the defensive focus on his talents cannot be understated. For some, the jury will still be out, for others that watch him regularly, there’s little doubting the massive impact he had on this match.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/sharks-v-toulouse-five-takeaways-as-springboks-front-row-given-torrid-time-with-visitors-rumbling-beef-and-impish-thomas-ramos-starring
