By Jon Stockham
December 13 2004

As Maverick has given the match report already and it’s now Monday evening so you’ll all know the score, this is more of a personal reflection on the game and the weekend in Toulouse. And no, there won’t be any juicy gossip about trouble in “back street bars” late at night as I didn’t see any!

What I did see was a game of rugby from the front row of the stand in one corner of the pitch so it is just as well that Maverick did the “actualite” so to speak. To make matters worse, my pen failed at half time so, Paul Ackford, your job isn’t under threat from me!

 

What had we expected for this return leg in Pool 3 of the Heineken Cup after a tense but well earned victory at Franklin’s Gardens the week before? Steve Thompson had warned of a Toulouse backlash and the general feeling amongst the press and supporters was that Stade Toulousain, the mightiest of French club sides, could not possibly countenance defeat at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.

 

This is a stadium which would do credit to any rugby club with its capacity of nearly 20,000 and enough corporate connections to keep Alan Robson happy. Curiously though, catering for the masses is still external bars and sauccison vendors, which on a bitterly cold and damp day, were less than ideal.

 

This grey amphitheatre comes to life with the crowd, albeit in a slightly stage managed way, as drums beat, an air raid siren occasionally sounds and massive black and red flags are unfurled. (I can just imagine the effect of an enormous Gold Black & Green banner being passed over the heads of the Silent Ones in the Church’s Stand!)

  Doing our bit

The PA announcer gives it a bit of volume, coloured balloons are distributed and the crowd are suitably pumped up to take over responsibility for…..noise!

 

Except………….at opposition penalty kicks. The Toulouse travelling support were apparently so impressed at the silence we afford all goal kickers at The Gardens, that a campaign was waged all week in Toulouse to encourage the home crowd to do the same. And it worked, until Wylie late tackled his opposite number and a penalty kick to Saints shortly after was greeted with the sort of cacophony one expects in France. Other than that however and possibly because of our win the week before, the Saints team and support alike were treated with warmth and respect by the Toulousains.

 

What you wouldn’t have seen on the television report of the match was the way Saints warmed up. A couple of Gloucester type jogs around the pitch in front of their own 1,500 supporters and a quick hit of the tackle bags on the touchline right in front of the GB&G faithful really got the fans going just before the team retreated to the changing room with five minutes to go. The hint of an away victory started to become a possibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warm up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am pleased to be able to report that Saints started the game like “Hats on Wheels,” which for the uninitiated, is a French phrase similar to “Like a Bat out of Hell.”  For the opening 10 minutes we took the game to the home team up front and in attack and Saints opened the scoring with a Shane Drahm penalty which gave some substance to the hopes of an upset for the hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hats on Wheels

 

 

However, Toulouse have a mighty pack and some very quick and intuitive backs. Despite the loss of their fly half to an ankle injury early in the game, they were able to up their control of the ball and speed of attack running such that Saints were having to defend more of the time.

 

The home pack then demonstrated their piece de resistance, the rolling maul. Awesome is one word, effective is another and both describe this particular offensive weapon. A text book maul, mobile and tightly bunched scattered the Saints defenders in its path and the French prop Poux scooped the points. The conversion was added and, with 3 earlier penalties, the score line of 16 – 6 started to look ominous for Saints.

 

Another rolling maul shortly afterwards had all the look of another try about it for Stade but Saints dogged defence kept the home side out. Indeed no other tries were to be scored by either team during the match, so what was the difference?

 

A familiar tale for Saints was the difference with an unacceptably high penalty count giving points to Toulouse. Wally leads with an up and at ‘em style but needs to control the exuberance of his team sometimes to keep the penalty count down.

 

Our line out failed to deliver again with one particularly awful throw by Wally going nowhere near his jumpers and being snaffled by the opposition. Indeed, the throwing improved when Dan Richmond came on and Wally moved to flanker to replace Corne who had departed with a neck injury.

 

Also in the treatment room was Andy Blowers who, after a worrying length of time on the ground, had departed on a stretcher. Happily, AB was up and about later that evening after precautionary checks but was medically advised not to nod!

 

The weight up front was also a significant factor and we certainly struggled at the set piece and in contact. Also. It really doesn’t help to kick away possession into the hands of some of the quickest runners about and only the bounce of the ball or slippery hands prevented a couple of Toulouse tries.

 

What went well? Something must have for the score to be limited to one try to nil. Saints’ defence was in form and effective, the dogged attitude of the team to take the game to Toulouse and never take a backward step rattled the home side early on and Saints emerged with some honour from another difficult game along the road to rebuilding a team from the damaged and under confident group of individuals that the previous coaching regime left behind.

 

All in all a creditable if slightly disappointing result for Saints against one of the top sides in Europe. There is still much work for the coaches to do before we are anywhere near consistent winners but the team spirit and attitude have re-emerged.

 

The Saints team and supporters made their way back into Toulouse city centre for a night of relaxation, enjoying the hospitality of this fine city and its rugby people. Whether our adventure in Europe continues this season depends on how we deal with a tricky away game at Llanelli and the home tie against Glasgow, neither of which should be thought of as anything other than major challenges for Saints after what has happened so far this term.