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Italian legend Sergio Parisse targetting one last title in his final run with Toulon

By PA
Sergio Parisse (Photo by REMY GABALDA/AFP via Getty Images)

Bristol Bears will have to travel to Aix-en-Provence to meet Toulon in the final of the European Challenge Cup after the French side beat Leicester 34-19 in the second semi-final.

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Toulon earned home nation advantage for the final as the highest ranked team left in the tournament and will now only have to travel 57 miles for the final on Friday, October 16.

They scored two tries in each half to heap further misery on new Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick, who saw his side’s last faint hopes of gaining a place in next season’s Heineken Champions Cup by winning the Challenge Cup go up in smoke.

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Jerome Kaino on the future of the All Blacks

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Jerome Kaino on the future of the All Blacks

The victory means there will be a fourth final outing in the tournament for the great Italian number eight, Sergio Parisse, who turned 37 earlier this month.

He captained Stade Francais Paris in the 2011, 2013 and 2017 finals, winning the man-of-the-match award in his side’s victory over La Rochelle in Edinburgh three years ago.

“It feels good to have beaten Leicester, but we want to go on and win the title. We deserve our place in the final,” said Parisse.

Toulon, who won the Heineken Champions Cup in 2013, 2014 and 2015, have fallen at the final hurdle twice before in the Challenge Cup. They were beaten in Marseille by Cardiff Blues in 2010 and then fell to Biarritz Olympique at the Twickenham Stoop in 2012.

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“This is a young team and I am really happy to be a part of it. I really hope we can go on and win the title,” he added.

“We were very clinical in our turnovers and got two tries from them in the first half. We played some good rugby.

“Our set-piece was also very good against a Leicester side that is well known for being good in that area. Now we are looking forward to facing Bristol, who played an amazing game against Bordeaux-Begles.”

While Parisse is currently the elder statesman in the Toulon squad, he will soon be the second oldest when former All Black great Ma’a Nonu rejoins the French club to help alleviate their backline injury woes.

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“In order to compensate for the injuries of Anthony Belleau and Julien Heriteau, the sports staff and President Bernard Lemaitre contacted the New Zealand centre,” a Toulon club statement read.

“After three seasons spent in Toulon between 2015 and 2018, the All Black with 104 selections has signed up as an additional player, to bring all his experience to the Red and Black three-quarter line.

“Ma’a Nonu will arrive in Toulon in the coming days and the club is delighted with his return and hopes to share with him a very good 2020-2021 season.”

Now 38, Nonu spent three seasons at Stade Felix Mayol and played in two Top 14 finals. He scored 14 tries in 77 games for the club.

“It will nice not to be the oldest guy in the squad and it is going to be good for the team to have Ma’a Nonu back. All the Toulon fans will be happy,” Parisse added.

One of Nonu’s first acts will be to try to formulate a plan to stop Bristol star centre Semi Radradra causing more mayhem in the final against a team he played for in the 2017-18 season.

He scored twice for Bristol in their quarter-final win over the Dragons and then provided the final pass for two more in Friday night’s semi-final win over Bordeaux-Begles.

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

8 Go to comments
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Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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