'I remain furious with the organisers': Toulouse hit out at EPCR
Toulouse took part last month in their fourth successive Heineken Champions Cup semi-final, but the French giants remain furious with tournament organisers EPCR over how they very nearly missed out on qualifying for the knockout stages.
The 2021 champions had two home matches cancelled by EPCR due to the pandemic. Their December game versus Wasps was declared a 0-0 draw but Cardiff were awarded a 28-0 win when the January 21 match away to Toulouse was called off at the eleventh hour.
That left the French clinging on in the qualification race and they required results from elsewhere to ensure they qualified as the seventh-placed team in Pool B for the round of 16 stage. There they beat Ulster over two legs before squeezing past Munster in a quarter-final penalty shootout in Dublin.
Toulouse then had to return to the Aviva Stadium a week later for their semi-final with Leinster where they eventually came unstuck and relinquished their grasp on a trophy they won for the fifth time last year when beating La Rochelle in London.
They now play La Rochelle again this Saturday, the pair clashing in the Top 14 playoffs, and ahead of that showdown between the respective 2021 and 2022 European champions, Toulouse president Didier Lacroix has revisited what happened to them in Europe over the pool stages which culminated in them threatening legal action against EPCR if they didn’t qualify for the knockout stages.
Featured on rugbyrama.fr, Lacroix said: “We are satisfied to have played a fourth consecutive semi-final in Europe but I still have the scenario of the group stage in my throat with these two games cancelled. I remain furious with the organisers because the two games that were taken away from us led to a mediocre qualification.
“All of this leaves a lot of bitterness. Even with the exception of my strong demonstrations at the time of the decision to cancel the match against Cardiff, I find that we are rather silent on the subject.
“Isn’t it annoying to be told every time, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll still make it’? The problem is that the day you don’t make it, the guy will forget this sentence. You qualify hard and the organisers think that’s enough for you.”
Lacroix also addressed concerns that players in France play too many matches. “I do think that some people play too many matches even if it is far from being an excuse when you lose. At Stade Toulousain, this problem is on the table for a long time.
“Today, we can clearly see that in the Top 14 all the rules aim to balance the debates, to prevent a team from taking over the leadership alone for a while. The stadiums are full and the players are becoming stars. So much the better, even if that poses another problem.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
50 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
50 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
50 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
51 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
50 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
50 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
50 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
50 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments