Acid test looms for reborn Toulouse in Dublin
For rugby fans of a certain age, the rapid rejuvenation of Toulouse over the last four or five months has been one of the most enjoyable stories of the 2018/19 season.
For anyone who grew up in the 90’s, Toulouse were the standard by which all other European rugby clubs were measured. It was the foundations that were laid in that decade – as well as their inaugural European title in 1996 – that allowed for a chateau of Gallic flair, knockout rugby excellence and a playing squad of eye-watering quality to be built.
The French side were the toast of European rugby, lifting Heineken Cups in 2003, 2005 and 2010, as well as making it to finals in 2004 and 2008. Their total of four titles was the standard in the competition until Leinster equalled it by lifting the trophy last season, whilst their six final appearances in total remains the highest in the competition’s history.
A mark of their continued excellence in the competition was that in a 20-year stretch in Europe’s top tier club competition, ranging from 1995 to 2015, Toulouse only once lost more games than they won in a European season, when a draw with Ulster cost them in the 2000/01 season, leaving them with a record of won two, drawn one and lost three.
Unfortunately for the aristocrats of European rugby, they have not fared quite so well since that stretch ended in 2015.
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The 2015/16 season of the European Rugby Champions Cup brought plenty of pain for Les rouge et noir, as they fell to five losses in the pool stage, with their sole victory coming at home to Oyonnax. They did end up finishing fifth in the Top 14, however, ensuring that they would be back in the next season to have a better crack at regaining their European mantle.
In 2016/17, the club snuck through the pool stages, grabbing a best runner-up spot in a pool that boasted an outclassed Zebre side and Connacht, who were dealing with a fair amount of second season syndrome, after having lifted the Guinness PRO12 title the campaign before. The dream ended there, though, as they met a fired-up Munster side in the quarter-finals at Thomond Park, where they were handily beaten, 41-16, by the Irish province. Worse was yet to come, however.
Toulouse ended the 2016/17 season 12th in the Top 14, just one spot above the relegation zone. The 15-point gap to 13th was a strong indicator of the difference in quality between Toulouse and the relegated pair of Grenoble and Bayonne, but that didn’t make it any more appetising for their fans to digest. The 2017/18 season was to be the first campaign that Toulouse spent outside of Europe’s top tier competition since the tournament began in 1995.
There were a number of reasons for Toulouse’s downfall, but chief among them was a recruitment and retention policy that overpaid for declining skill sets and created a wave of similar salary expectations throughout the team. The club ended up with a highly-paid squad of ageing players that was getting worse by the season – through no fault of the players, simply the effects of age – and without the financial flexibility to bolster the side in the right areas, or the opportunities for younger players to come through their once-famed academy and stake a claim for a place in the XV.
It created quite the hole for the club, but since the arrival of Fabien Pelous as director of rugby and Ugo Mola as head coach in 2015, the pair have been doing an admirable job of turning around the fortunes of the 19-time French champions.
A third-place finish in the Top 14 last season brought Toulouse back into European rugby’s premier competition this season, and they have taken the opportunity gratefully, winning all four of their pool games so far, a record which is only matched by Saracens and Racing 92. Equally, their Top 14 form has been excellent, with the club sitting in second, just three points behind league leaders Clermont.
The acid test of Toulouse’s rebirth comes this weekend, however, as they travel to Dublin to take on reigning champions Leinster at the RDS.
They had Leinster’s number at the Ernest Wallon earlier this season, beating the province 28-27 in front of nearly 18,000 spectators, in what was a nostalgic reminder of European rugby’s days of yesteryear. They also held serve at home against Wasps, registering a comfortable 42-27 victory over another side that is interwoven into Toulouse’s history in the competition.
Away wins over Bath and Wasps have also helped to dispel the outdated notion of French sides generally being poor on the road, and momentum is fully with Mola’s team. Their recent domestic results have also been impressive, with a 27-20 win away at Agen, a 39-0 thumping of Toulon and a 20-20 draw away at Clermont their three most recent fixtures. Given the strength with which French sides defend their home soil, those two points picked up at Clermont may be the most impressive result of the bunch, as they are unlikely to face a more challenging task than Clermont away in domestic rugby again this season.
Toulouse’s rejuvenation has centred around a homegrown core coming to the fore at the club. It’s exactly the same process that preceded great European success for the likes of Leicester Tigers, Wasps, Munster, Leinster and Saracens in the competition, as well as Toulouse themselves. The only club to really break this trend and enjoy consistent success in the competition without that core has been Toulon, and their method will be hard to replicate.
Toulon prospered with a team of experienced, global stars, something they were able to put together before wage expectations rose to where they currently are across the board, as well as not facing the recent changes to the JIFF regulations that French clubs are now expected to abide by. It was a fantastic team that was a joy to watch, but it was also a team that made the most of shifting eras in professional European rugby and took advantage of that better than any of their rivals.
If you take the formulae of the other six clubs to win multiple European titles at this level, then Toulouse are well on their way to re-establishing themselves as a dominant force.
The trio of Romain Ntamack, Thomas Ramos and Julien Marchand have developed into integral members of the squad, with Ramos having just broken the 90 mark on the RPI and Ntamack’s score of 87 making him comfortably the top teenager on the Index.
Whether at 12 or 10, Ntamack gets the back line singing, Ramos brings counter-attacking and solid basics to the 15 or the 10 jersey, and Marchand has thrived in his role as captain and is giving Guilhem Guirado a run for his money as the most consistent hooker in the Top 14. With Ramos and Marchand aged 23 and Ntamack still only 19, Toulouse have found a core to grow their club around, much as Saracens did a while ago with Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Jamie George, among others.
There are other significant contributors whose age profiles would suggest there is still room for improvement, such as Cyril Baille, who has been unlucky with injury, Florian Verhaeghe, Selevasio Tolofua and Arthur Bonneval. They are all players who want to represent Toulouse, know the special nature of the club and are well-suited to the style of rugby that the club is trying to play once again.
Recruitment has also improved, with no signing as impressive as that of Antoine Dupont, with the 22-year-old arguably already the pick of a healthy crop of French scrum-halves, although an RPI score of 88 actually has him just behind Teddy Iribaren in the Top 14. Jerome Kaino has brought improved solidity to the spine of the side, alongside the likes of Marchand, Ntamack and Ramos, and Cheslin Kolbe has been a game-winner, who has only added impetus to the club’s move back to the knife from the hammer. Joe Tekori is playing well, Sofiane Guitoune is as dangerous a 13 in Europe as there is at the moment and Charlie Faumuina provides reliability at tighthead.
Experience has been retained, too, to give the squad balance, in the forms of Maxime Médard, who is the top full-back in the Top 14 on the RPI, Yoann Huget and Maxime Mermoz. These are players that remember the glory days at Toulouse and are fine role models to help turn the likes of Marchand, Ntamack and Ramos into the tone-setters and leadership group at the club for the years to come.
All of that said, the challenge that Leinster pose on Saturday may well prove to be too demanding. Toulouse are on the up, certainly, but Leinster are already at the top.
This is not a game where a loss should, necessarily, end the excitement about where the French side are heading, as Leinster provide the perfect barometer for Toulouse to measure where they are in their development. If they can go to Dublin on Saturday afternoon and live, or at least be competitive with the guile of Johnny Sexton, the physicality that Tadhg Furlong will bring and the tempo and intensity of Leinster’s dangerous outside backs, then they should be encouraged regardless of the result, rather than disheartened.
Mola and Pelous need to take Toulouse into the encounter targeting a victory – and that is certainly a possibility – but there is more to be learnt about their side in this contest than the result alone will show.
The RDS may well be the toughest destination in European rugby and now the pair get a front row seat to see just how far the evolution of their side has come and what they will need to do over the coming months and years for the former giants of French rugby to take their place back among Europe’s elite.
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Comments on RugbyPass
I like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
8 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
8 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
8 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
8 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to comments