Toulouse player ratings vs Sharks | Investec Champions Cup 2025/26

Toulouse player ratings: The Red and Blacks rolled out something not far off a full-strength side and treated the contest accordingly – winning 56-19 in the end.

It was by no means perfect, the French giants falling asleep for a 25-minute period in the second-half, allowing the Sharks to land a couple of punches, but this was a statement of depth and tempo, with moments of sheer class sprinkled in from the French giants.

Here is how we rated the Toulouse players:

1. Rodrigue Neti – 7.5
Produced a superb breakdown turnover early doors and backed it up with strong carries. A quietly excellent outing.

2. Julien Marchand – 8.5
Too powerful to stop for both first-half tries and dominated everything within five metres of the line. Toulouse’s tone setter.

3. Joel Merkler – 7.5
One offload in the loose showed surprisingly soft hands for a 135kg tighthead. Anchored a mostly dominant scrum and delivered a quality shift.

4. Thibaud Flament – 7
Aerial excellence at restarts, rising like an Airbus prototype. Added typical work rate around the park.

5. Emmanuel Meafou – 7.5
Required two tacklers almost every time. Thundered upfield for heavy contact metres and was a constant source of gainline.

6. Leo Banos – 7
Threw a lovely overhead ball to put Thomas away late on and was a nuisance throughout. Intelligent lines and good industry.

7. Anthony Jelonch – 7.5
Offloading game on show again. Carried hard and linked beautifully for Gourgues’s first-half try.

8. Alexandre Roumat – 7
More efficient than spectacular but showed all his usual nuance. Good touches, smart positioning.

9. Paul Graou – 7
Mixed things up well early and took quick taps smartly, including the spark for Gourgues’s try. A couple of missteps in decision-making halted momentum at times.

10. Thomas Ramos – 8
A metronome off the tee. Had one moment of madness with a quick dropout grubber that failed to go five, but otherwise slick.

11. Dimitri Delibes – 5.5
One of his quieter nights and spilled a ball in the Sharks 22 that cost field position.

12. Kalvin Gourgues – 8
Took his first half try well and threatened constantly. One loose second-half pass but an impressive European performance for the rookie Test star.

13. Teddy Thomas – 6
Strangely absent for long periods. Finished his try late on but contributed little prior.

14. Ange Capuozzo – 9
Pure electricity. A hat trick built on footwork, acceleration and timing. The Sharks never worked him out.

15. Blair Kinghorn – 7
Some fielding was a little loose and one tap back caused trouble, but he also linked brilliantly to send Capuozzo through before half-time.

REPLACEMENTS – 7
Dupont brought his usual mix of clarity and urgency and immediately raised the tempo. Brennan added grunt. Castro Ferreira scored from the maul with his first meaningful involvement. Ainu’u and Aldegheri helped maintain scrum dominance. Costes provided tidy distribution. Epee barely saw the ball but threatened with his first touch.