Mistake-ridden Tigers are tamed by Toulon
TIGERS’ European dreams were well and truly buried on a ploughed Stade Felix Mayol pitch as Toulon set up a Challenge Cup Final shoot-out with Bristol.
Geordan Murphy’s men were comfortably beaten by their stronger, superior French rivals. They also had themselves to blame for failing to progress having missed several tackles and made what was always going to be a tough task that much harder.
There were supposed to have been just 1,000 fans allowed into the stadium to watch the game but there appeared to be considerably more than that as the hosts surged into a 20-11 half-time lead.
George Ford got the scoreboard ticking with a third minute penalty but it was the home side which quickly gained momentum.
Tigers have been treading water near the bottom of the Premiership but having received a bye through to the semi-finals when Castres forfeited due to the coronavirus outbreak, they were pumped up for this contest.
It was only the third game at the Stade Mayol since February but the pitch was patchy and cut up badly. But there was little excuse for Leicester’s disappointing tackling as former Worcester man Bryce Heem raced over the line.
Serge Parisse’s turnover in midfield sparked the Toulon attack and Heem evaded a weak attempt at a tackle by Tigers full-back Kini Murimurivalu to charge over unchallenged. Carbonel added the extras and followed up with a penalty when Tigers captain Tom Youngs failed to roll away from a ruck.
The former France U20 fly-half, pushing for a senior place this Autumn, had begun the attack leading to his three points with a dart down the right and clever chip through which left Tigers scrambling.
A counter ruck from the hosts led to the ball being moved to the left flank and wing Gabin Villiere sliced through far too easily. Carbonel converted and Tigers
were already on the rack.
Ford responded with a second penalty after Nemani Nadolo’s strong carry put Tigers on the front foot and their rivals penalised at a ruck.
Tigers knew one of their best chances of breaking through the thick Toulon defensive line was to get the giant Nadolo on a one on one with an opponent. They managed it just before halftime as the Fijian powerhouse left Carbonel lying on the ground in his wake as he scored in the left hand corner.
Ford began the second half as he did the first with a penalty to reduce the lead to just six points after the Tigers pack applied the pressure at a scrum. The gap should have been just three but Ford made the major mistake of turning down a kick at goal for going for territory. He over cooked his effort and missed touch.
The Tigers defence was stretched to breaking when Argentine replacement Facundo Isa charged over for a try within two minutes of entering the fray. Carbonel made no mistake with is conversion and Tigers’ hopes faded when lock Thomas Lavanini was sin binned for a late hit on Carbonel from behind.
Duncan Paia’aua’s inside pass put Villiere over for his second and his side’s fourth try as Ford’s poor clearing kick and tackle cost Tigers dear.
Sergio Parisse was shown a yellow card for collapsing a Tigers maul and wing Harry Potter forced his way over for a Tigers consolation.