Le Backlash - Toulouse Match Report
By BrianC
October 31 2006
Make no mistake about this; our game against Toulouse was a craicing game of rugby. It was fast and open with both teams apparently committed to entertain a near capacity crowd in arguably the best club rugby venue in the world.
October 31 2006
Make no mistake about this; our game against Toulouse was a craicing game of rugby. It was fast and open with both teams apparently committed to entertain a near capacity crowd in arguably the best club rugby venue in the world.
The only downside from a London Irish point of view is that we lost and are now almost certainly out of this competition. Even then we can take heart. It was a truly gutsy performance from an injury-weakened side.
My co-ed Griff has been press ganged into writing the Craic report so I won’t dwell too much on the social side of the weekend save to say that it was well up to standard. Toulouse is the epicenter of French club rugby. As with our trip there four years ago it was a truly enjoyable experience.
As we approached the stadium it was clear to see that a lot had changed in the time since we last played there. Name change aside a lot of work has been done on the Stade Ernest Wallon. It is now substantially larger. For our game the crowd was pretty well at its capacity of 19,000.
It is pleasing to report that in other aspects things are very much the same. The Toulouse supporters were enjoying the autumn sunshine and were seen picnicking and partying in their droves. The food and drink outside the stadium was excellent and very good value. (€2.50 for a cold beer).
As the abundant Irish fans gathered, there was a real party atmosphere. I can do no more than guess at the numbers but I’d put this by some way our biggest tour ever. There were green shirts all over town. I’d say that we had around a thousand there. Amongst those I spoke to there was a general consensus that we were going to be beaten but a hope that we’d hold our own.
Once inside the stadium we again got to appreciate just how fantastic the Toulouse support is. The drums, the huge flags, the confetti and the chants all contributed to the sense of occasion. That home support must be worth an extra converted try every game.
The match itself started very brightly for us. With just two minutes on the clock Delon caught what looked like a very sleepy Toulouse defence flatfooted and ran in a try under the posts, this Barry duly converted. We had just started the game and were 0 – 7 up, in my match notes I wrote at this stage ‘I don’t believe it’.
If anything things briefly got worse for the home side. They kicked the restart straight out and from the scrum we launched a promising looking attack but the cover was good and nothing came of it. After that the Toulousaines seemed to step up a gear and it was to quite a while before we were to score again.
On 7 minutes we were pinged for offside a kick that Ellisalde, who was imperious all afternoon, duly converted. A few minutes later we lost our lead through what I felt was sloppy defence. A tackle was missed, by Topsy I think, Jauzion went over in the corner and the difficult conversion was made. Ten minutes on the clock we were 10 – 7 down.
There followed some wonderful flowing rugby. Real ping-pong stuff, chances for both sides. Toulouse, egged on by their fantastic support, scored next. On twenty minutes they had attacked and looked certain to score. Topsy and Delon snaffled the ball and ran it pretty well the length of the field only to knock on with meters of the line. Toulouse then brought it straight back up to our end from which they were awarded a difficult penalty. At first they went for the corner then they took an easier subsequent one. On twenty minutes it was 13 – 7 to the home team. Breathless stuff in the 22-degree heat.
It was not long before Toulouse were to score again. Somewhat ironically it was a bad line call against them that led to their second try. A Toulouse player was adjudged to have carried the ball out on his own 22 (I was sitting there, he hadn’t). Despite it being our put in we lost the resulting lineout. Before you knew it the ball was spun wide and carried to our end where Garbajosa went over in the corner. Again it was converted and with the score at 20 – 7 after just 22 minutes we worried that a thumping was on the cards. We were to be victims of ‘Le backlash’ from their defeat in Ulster last week.
Immediately after the restart we got a penalty and narrowed the margin to 10 points, this remained the score until half time. Not it has to be said that there were not opportunities. There were plenty, for both sides. By the time they ran in both teams must have been well and truly knackered.
As the second half started the screw was well and truly turned. Toulouse appeared at their belligerent best. Our defence was torn apart as Fritz ran in what looked like an easy try. The conversion took the score to 25 – 10 on 44 minutes. They then started pushing for the fourth try and the bonus point that would come with it. Pretty well kickable penalties at this stage were put in the corner.
Previous London Irish sides I have seen would have buckled at this stage. Full credit to the boys in green (and red) they showed great character at this stage. Rather than roll over they took the game back to the home team. On 58 minutes this was rewarded when Kieran Roche was worked over the line, Delon converted and the score was 27 – 17.
It was shortly after this that I feel we made our poorest tactical decision of the game. We were awarded a penalty in front of the posts and rather than take the points, which would have brought us within a score, we went for the corner. Whilst we won the ball from the resulting lineout and made it over we were held up. The chance was lost but I do wonder, as Toulouse at this stage were looking a bit rattled. Had we taken the three would they have felt the pressure?
The game pretty well ended as a contest five minutes before the end. Ellisalde converted a penalty to put clear water between the teams and take the pressure off. With the clock ticking down the Toulousains had one job left, to secure the bonus point. This they did with clinical precision. As the clock showed 40 minutes of the second half elapsed they took another penalty into the corner and from the lineout Montauriol was put clear under the posts. With the conversion the final score was 37 – 17.
Toulouse, together with their truly fantastic supporters, fully deserved this victory. That said we can hold our heads high. Whilst we must now accept that we are out of the Heineken cup for this season if the team can put this level of performance together in upcoming Premiership games we’ll certainly be in the same competition next season.
Beaten but not bowed. Fantastic game, fantastic trip.
My co-ed Griff has been press ganged into writing the Craic report so I won’t dwell too much on the social side of the weekend save to say that it was well up to standard. Toulouse is the epicenter of French club rugby. As with our trip there four years ago it was a truly enjoyable experience.
As we approached the stadium it was clear to see that a lot had changed in the time since we last played there. Name change aside a lot of work has been done on the Stade Ernest Wallon. It is now substantially larger. For our game the crowd was pretty well at its capacity of 19,000.
It is pleasing to report that in other aspects things are very much the same. The Toulouse supporters were enjoying the autumn sunshine and were seen picnicking and partying in their droves. The food and drink outside the stadium was excellent and very good value. (€2.50 for a cold beer).
As the abundant Irish fans gathered, there was a real party atmosphere. I can do no more than guess at the numbers but I’d put this by some way our biggest tour ever. There were green shirts all over town. I’d say that we had around a thousand there. Amongst those I spoke to there was a general consensus that we were going to be beaten but a hope that we’d hold our own.
Once inside the stadium we again got to appreciate just how fantastic the Toulouse support is. The drums, the huge flags, the confetti and the chants all contributed to the sense of occasion. That home support must be worth an extra converted try every game.
The match itself started very brightly for us. With just two minutes on the clock Delon caught what looked like a very sleepy Toulouse defence flatfooted and ran in a try under the posts, this Barry duly converted. We had just started the game and were 0 – 7 up, in my match notes I wrote at this stage ‘I don’t believe it’.
If anything things briefly got worse for the home side. They kicked the restart straight out and from the scrum we launched a promising looking attack but the cover was good and nothing came of it. After that the Toulousaines seemed to step up a gear and it was to quite a while before we were to score again.
On 7 minutes we were pinged for offside a kick that Ellisalde, who was imperious all afternoon, duly converted. A few minutes later we lost our lead through what I felt was sloppy defence. A tackle was missed, by Topsy I think, Jauzion went over in the corner and the difficult conversion was made. Ten minutes on the clock we were 10 – 7 down.
There followed some wonderful flowing rugby. Real ping-pong stuff, chances for both sides. Toulouse, egged on by their fantastic support, scored next. On twenty minutes they had attacked and looked certain to score. Topsy and Delon snaffled the ball and ran it pretty well the length of the field only to knock on with meters of the line. Toulouse then brought it straight back up to our end from which they were awarded a difficult penalty. At first they went for the corner then they took an easier subsequent one. On twenty minutes it was 13 – 7 to the home team. Breathless stuff in the 22-degree heat.
It was not long before Toulouse were to score again. Somewhat ironically it was a bad line call against them that led to their second try. A Toulouse player was adjudged to have carried the ball out on his own 22 (I was sitting there, he hadn’t). Despite it being our put in we lost the resulting lineout. Before you knew it the ball was spun wide and carried to our end where Garbajosa went over in the corner. Again it was converted and with the score at 20 – 7 after just 22 minutes we worried that a thumping was on the cards. We were to be victims of ‘Le backlash’ from their defeat in Ulster last week.
Immediately after the restart we got a penalty and narrowed the margin to 10 points, this remained the score until half time. Not it has to be said that there were not opportunities. There were plenty, for both sides. By the time they ran in both teams must have been well and truly knackered.
As the second half started the screw was well and truly turned. Toulouse appeared at their belligerent best. Our defence was torn apart as Fritz ran in what looked like an easy try. The conversion took the score to 25 – 10 on 44 minutes. They then started pushing for the fourth try and the bonus point that would come with it. Pretty well kickable penalties at this stage were put in the corner.
Previous London Irish sides I have seen would have buckled at this stage. Full credit to the boys in green (and red) they showed great character at this stage. Rather than roll over they took the game back to the home team. On 58 minutes this was rewarded when Kieran Roche was worked over the line, Delon converted and the score was 27 – 17.
It was shortly after this that I feel we made our poorest tactical decision of the game. We were awarded a penalty in front of the posts and rather than take the points, which would have brought us within a score, we went for the corner. Whilst we won the ball from the resulting lineout and made it over we were held up. The chance was lost but I do wonder, as Toulouse at this stage were looking a bit rattled. Had we taken the three would they have felt the pressure?
The game pretty well ended as a contest five minutes before the end. Ellisalde converted a penalty to put clear water between the teams and take the pressure off. With the clock ticking down the Toulousains had one job left, to secure the bonus point. This they did with clinical precision. As the clock showed 40 minutes of the second half elapsed they took another penalty into the corner and from the lineout Montauriol was put clear under the posts. With the conversion the final score was 37 – 17.
Toulouse, together with their truly fantastic supporters, fully deserved this victory. That said we can hold our heads high. Whilst we must now accept that we are out of the Heineken cup for this season if the team can put this level of performance together in upcoming Premiership games we’ll certainly be in the same competition next season.
Beaten but not bowed. Fantastic game, fantastic trip.
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