Toulon star Ben White's on a personal mission to right previous wrongs

Ben White hopes that there is a first time for everything on Saturday afternoon by breaking a career duck at the Aviva Stadium when his Top 14 outfit Toulon travel to Dublin to face Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final.

The Scotland international scrum-half has never won a game in Dublin 4 or even beaten Ireland, so he will draw on the experience of his team-mates who have when Toulon return to the scene of their  2023 Challenge Cup Final win over Glasgow Warriors.

White says that Toulon aren’t fazed by Leinster having a massive advantage of playing in a stadium they use regularly in the Champions Cup and the United Rugby Championship.

“Every game is a new game. That’s just the rules of the tournament. You’re going to have to beat the top teams to win a top trophy. Playing at the Aviva is special. It’s a cool stadium, and it’s going to be a great challenge for us as well,” he said.

“Toulon won the Challenge Cup in this stadium. A lot of the team have a good memory from the stadium and will be really excited about going back to Dublin. Every game is a new game, isn’t it?

“You go into it with a plan, you go into it with confidence, you go into it with a mindset that you need to perform and do your job. For me, that’s how I’ve always tried to address things.

“I don’t really think too much in the past or the future. It’s all about right now, this week, and the opportunity that’s in front.

“The coaches and players have come up with a good strategy, and we just have to all buy in. If we can go to Dublin, to their home stadium, and get a great result, that would be amazing for the club.”

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Leinster

29 - 25

Full-time

Toulon

All Stats and Data

White says that cup fever is gripping the Côte d’Azur seaport this week as they look to claim their first Champions Cup since completing a hat-trick of victories in 2015.

“Everywhere you walk around the campus, there’s pictures of the double-winning team. There’s European Cups in the reception. It’s a very firm footprint on the club, an incredible history that they’ve built over that period,” he added.

“We have an opportunity to try and do the same. That’s why we’re here. Obviously, it’s a very exciting place to be here at the minute. We haven’t been in the semi-final for a long time.

“We obviously lost in the quarters last year, so I think the whole club, the team, and the city is really excited, and you can definitely sense the excitement around the place.

“It’s a very proud rugby city. It’s in its core. And once you get to these big matches, you can feel the city get behind you, the excitement growing. People come up to you all the time.

“It’s obviously a very cool place to be in at the minute, and you feel the excitement in the city. I think that’s something that the players really get excited about.

“Obviously, players that have been here for a long time, who have experience of winning things here, speak about how amazing it is to do that.

“As a player like me, who hasn’t won something here, you crave that. You get excited about the stories that people tell of those big days. Hopefully we can go there and capitalise.”