Toulouse crushes Sharks to advance to Champions Cup semi-finals

Under the sun, Stade Toulousain pulverized (54-20) the Durban Sharks team, Saturday April 8, on its lawn at the Ernest-Wallon stadium, in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. In the semi-finals, Toulouse will face the Irish of Leinster, who largely dominated Leicester, the English champions (55-24), on Saturday.

This duel between two of the favorites of the competition has kept all its promises. As usual, the South Africans immediately imposed a huge physical challenge and a hellish tempo. Faced with overpowered forwards and fast rears, the Toulouse were dominated for half an hour, especially in the rucks.

At the 9^e minute, fly-half Curwin Bosch opened the scoring by scoring a penalty following a foul by Argentinian winger Juan Cruz Mallia, who received a yellow card in passing for having given an involuntary header, synonymous with exclusion for ten minutes. A try by full-back Thomas Ramos was then canceled in the 15th^e minute for a slight forward.

At the 21^e minute, the same Ramos brought the two teams tied (3-3) by scoring a penalty following a tackle too high on Antoine Dupont. Five minutes later, the Sharks regained the lead (3-10) thanks to a try from Grant William. After a nice raise from Curwin Bosch, the South African scrum-half scored between the posts.

Dominated, the people of Toulouse did not panic and, in front of their public, knew how to react with class. At the 30^e minute, Thomas Ramos started his festival by scoring another penalty following a scrum shoved by the Toulouse forward package. Four minutes later, the same Ramos was caught a few meters from the line by Werner Kok after a breakthrough from Romain Ntamack full axis. But it was only a postponement because Toulouse clearly took the lead over their opponents at the end of the first period.

A few minutes later, Juan Cruz Mallia scored a try from a corner which finally allowed the Red and Blacks to take the lead (11-10), even though Ramos missed the conversion. A new penalty from the essential rear of the France team allowed Toulouse to return to the locker room with a four-point lead (14-10).

Thomas Ramos, man of the match

In the second half, the Rouge et Noir returned to the field with the intention of driving the point home. At the 45^e minute, it was again Thomas Ramos who scored between the posts on an offering from Antoine Dupont, after a good job from the back lines. The test being converted, the gap became significant (21-10).

Stung, the Sharks tried to react after conceding a severe 18-0. The South Africans multiplied the penalties in the Toulouse camp, without managing to score. In the process, Boeta Chamberlain however scored a first-hand try, which allowed the Durban players to restart the match (21-17).

But Toulouse was definitely too strong this Sunday for the South Africans. A few minutes later, Juan Cruz Mallia scored a new corner try following a scratch from Australian Emmanuel Meafou. The gap became important again (26-17).

At the 68^e, hooker Peato Mauvaka scored after a Toulouse maul and a mischievous pass from Antoine Dupont. This fourth Toulouse test put an end to the suspense. After conversion, the Rouge et Noir had a 13-point lead (33-20).

But the Toulouse festival was not over. Eight minutes from the end, Ramos scored another try between the posts on a new serve from Antoine Dupont. After transformation, the gap now reached 20 points (40-20).

In the aftermath, winger Arthur Retière, who had just come on, scored another try on an offering from the France team’s scrum-half, his fourth assist in this game. A solitary try by Romain Ntamack, the seventh of Toulouse, completed this Toulouse success (54-20). Author of 29 points (two tries, five transformations and three penalties), Thomas Ramos was elected man of the match.

“In the second half, we put six tries. We had fun, we played collectively. It’s very pleasant to play matches like that, it’s great! »said after the meeting the international back at the microphone of France 2.

“We knew that if we resisted their physical impact at the start of the match, we had a good chance of winning. We came across a very good Sharks team, we deserve this victory in a packed stadium and in a crazy atmosphereexplained Romain Ntamack. Now, we are going to concentrate well for the semi-finals, hoping to put in a better performance than last year. » A year ago, the Irish of Leinster had administered a correction (40-17) in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup to the players of the Pink City.

In the other part of the table, Exeter faces the Stormers, Saturday at 6.30 p.m., and La Rochelle meets the Saracens, Sunday at 4 p.m., for the last two places in the semi-finals. The Champions Cup, formerly the European Rugby Union Cup, is the most important competition contested in Europe each year by clubs from six countries (France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and South Africa). The great novelty of this 2022-2023 edition is the integration of several South African franchises (Durban Sharks, Cape Stormers and Pretoria Bulls).

A dozen French and South African internationals took part in this meeting. They could find themselves in the quarter-finals of the next World Cup in France (from September 8 to October 28). The rivalry is strong between France and South Africa, which – along with Ireland and New Zealand – are among the main favorites of the World Cup.

On November 12, 2022, the two teams faced off in a memorable test match. The French had overcome the reigning world champions (30-26). An extremely physical encounter, which resulted in two red cards (including that of captain Antoine Dupont), five concussions, three injuries and a yellow card.