Blues primed to spike Toulouse’s thrilling revival
GET the popcorn ready, this is going to be box office. On a day when a resurrection is celebrated by Christians everywhere, it is fitting that Leinster should welcome Toulouse to the capital. The French giants have been reborn this season. After years in the wilderness, they are back in the big time. They have been sorely missed.
There was a time when they were the kingpins of the old Heineken Cup. Under their eccentric, but brilliant, head coach Guy Noves, they won three titles in 2003, 2005 and 2010, and lost two other finals in 2004 and 2008 for good measure (they also won the first instalment of the competition in 1996). Back then, the team sheet was a list of European royalty: Servat, Pelous, Dusautoir, Elissalde, Jauzion and Heymans. The club had four European titles to its name, but Toulouse went into freefall following their last triumph in 2010.
It’s taken a long time but thanks to the efforts of Fabien Pelous, the club’s director of rugby, and Ugo Mola, their all-action head coach, they have rebuilt Toulouse into the force of old. Mola went back to the foundations that made Toulouse such an institution in the previous decade. They reinvested in the club’s academy and only sought to bring in the odd overseas player,
who would buy into every aspect of the club. The overpaid mercenaries were turfed out.
The result is the stellar outfit that will take to the field at Lansdowne Road this afternoon. The visitors have a new generation of young French talent among their ranks in Thomas Ramos Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack buoyed by quality signings such as Charlie Faumuina, Jerome Kaino and the electric Cheslin Kolbe. They fancy their chances today.
Toulouse arrive in Dublin with an eight-point lead in their domestic league. Leinster, meanwhile, go into this game with questions hanging over them. Recent losses to Treviso and Glasgow mean little today. The province have dominated the Pro14 all season and have been targeting this game for quite some time.
Still, there is a feeling that they are not quite the force of last season. Ulster certainly exposed some frailties in that pulsating quarterfinal. Had Jacob Stockdale touched that ball down, they might not have made it to this stage.
‘We have such disruption through the Six Nations and then you come out the back of that and it is hard to manage the squad in terms of building to the quarters and a home semi-final in the league,’ their returning captain Johnny Sexton observed yesterday.
‘Ulster were brilliant. That game will stand to us. But we’ll find out where we are at.’
They know Toulouse better than any other side this season.
This is the third meeting after two memorable encounters in the pool stages.
Those previous encounters will have been referenced by Leo Cullen and the rest of the Leinster brains trust this week.
There are lessons to be learned from both games.
When they rocked up at a heaving Stade Ernest Wallon last October, they were riding the crest of a wave having humiliated Wasps 52-3 at the RDS the weekend before. Leinster were being lauded as the greatest team to ever grace the European stage and a record fifth title was been touted as a formality.
Toulouse set a trap and Leinster got lured into a frantic contest, conceding two tries from intercepts as the rampant hosts sealed a brilliant 28-27 win.
Toulouse bounced into the RDS for the return fixture but Leinster, despite missing a host of frontliners including Sexton and Robbie Henshaw, had heeded the lessons.
They stuck to the script and battered the visitors with a relentlessly physical approach. Rhys Ruddock, Tadhg Furlong and Jack Conan charged around the corner all afternoon and Leinster gradually wore them down. When the moment allowed, they gave the ball some air with Dave Kearney scoring a memorable try thanks to a brilliantly-executed cross-kick from Ross Byrne. Leinster were full value or that 29-13 win.
It will be a battle of wills today. Toulouse will aim to break the game up at every opportunity while Leinster will look to dominate territory and possession and suffocate the free-wheeling visitors.
‘We cannot ignore the way Leinster play, they have a good mastering of rugby,’ Mola observed yesterday. ‘They know their rugby, it’s Irish rugby. We know where we stand, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win, but we need to keep what makes us strong and express ourselves as best as possible.
‘To beat a team beat like Leinster we need to play the perfect match. If we play surgical rugby, Leinster will master us.’
Toulouse have learned the lessons of that Dublin demolition as well. Mola has opted for the physical presence of Pita Akhi in place of their young starlet Ntamack.
The former Connacht centre will add extra protection for Dupont at No10. No doubt, Leinster will be sending their big artillery down that channel. The presence of towering locks Richie Arnold and Richie Gray along with Joe Tekori in the backrow signals a side that are gearing up for a battle.
Their 6-2, forward-heavy split on the bench is also a big indicator.
However, Leinster can play with verve and width, too. James Lowe and Jordan Larmour are two of the most dangerous operators in the competition while the axis of Sexton, Henshaw and Garry Ringrose is back en bloc and are a deadly combination when all three are fit and firing.
For all their talents and performances this season, you feel Toulouse are still about 12 months away from hitting their peak.
Leinster’s experience and pedigree should see them home this afternoon, but this is just the beginning for the resurgent visitors.