Midi Olympique
This morning’s edition of the twice-a-week rugby newspaper leads with front page photos of Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and Leicester’s Manu Tuilagi and a headline of ‘Trois gros au menu’.
The following two pages are dedicated to behind the scenes reports after ‘A week with Toulouse’, where Midol discovered “serenity, laughs and ambiance” within the group ahead of their clash with Munster at Thomond Park.
Simon Valzer writes of ‘Montès’ challenge’ in replacing Census Johnston at tighthead prop, where his match-up with Dave Kilcoyne will be important. There is also a reminder that the Frenchman will have his hands full defending the Munster maul.
Wing Vincent Clerc admits that the Irish province can be “transformed by the chants of their supporters” in Limerick, saying that Munster’s fans are “not called the Red Army for nothing.”
Technique and tactics specialist Nicolas Zanardi explores the areas of the game that could prove crucial tomorrow, highlighting the danger posed by Conor Murray around the fringes of rucks, after the 24-year-old gave France a “living nightmare” in that area in Paris.
There are also concerns for the Toulouse scrum, with the much-loved French slogan of “no scrum, no win” brought into focus.
Munster backs coach Simon Mannix [formerly at Racing Métro and fluent in French] is interviewed underneath, where he accepts that Leinster remain the leading province in Ireland, particularly after Munster lost “legends” like Leamy, O’Gara and Flannery.
The Kiwi suggests that Peter O’Mahony and Simon Zebo are among the players who can continue to lead Munster’s progression, before finishing by revealing that he doesn’t know where he will coach next season.
Across the page is a lengthy piece focusing on Zebo under the headline ‘The French touch,’ alluding to his Martinique roots. The tagline of the article calls him a “talented player who could be the heir apparent to King O’Driscoll”.
The focus turns to the Toulon v Leinster clash on page 10, with the lead article detailing the home team’s ambitions of ruling in Europe as well as domestically. The advanced age of Bernard Laporte’s players is examined, with a reminder for Leinster of their experience.
Enticed to suggest that Toulon want to send O’Driscoll into retirement with defeat, lock Jocelino Suta insists “we’re not focused” on the outside centre. The France international also disagrees with the assertion that Toulon “scare teams less” this season, underlining that their best is yet to come.
The technical exploration of the game by Simon Valzer worries over the loss of power in the Toulon pack caused by the injuries to Andrew Sheridan, Bakkies Botha and Ali Willians, while there is also warning over the threat of Devin Toner in the line-out.
Jérôme Fredon takes a closer look at the Leinster team with the headline ‘Dressed in camouflage,’ an allusion to the fact that Matt O’Connor revealed so few of his intentions during the build-up this week.
L’Équipe
Rugby is found all the way back on page 17 of France’s sports daily, with the usual major focus on football towards the front of the paper. L’Équipe have run an interview with referee Nigel Owens ahead of the game in Limerick, which the Welshman will officiate.
While the article barely mentions the Heineken Cup this weekend, there is lots of interesting stuff on Owens’ coming out and his resulting happiness allowing him to become a better referee.
The newspapers’ website has more coverage of the games, with Guy Novès recounting his experiences of Irish rugby supporters, ahead of visiting Thomond Park for the first time.
“Regardless of where you play against the Irish, the atmosphere is great. After the final in 2008 , I remember we met dozens of Irish fans at Cardiff Airport, who were also taking a plane to go home. These guys gave us a guard of honor, applauding us off the bus and across the runway. It was a real life lesson!”
Rugbyrama
The hugely popular French rugby website has given plenty of coverage to the Heineken Cup all week, calling the Munster v Toulouse game ‘The clash of the giants.’
Martine Loyer’s preview of the quarter-final touches upon the need for Toulouse’s set-piece to improve tomorrow, while again pointing to the “serious handicap” of losing Census Johnston.
The fact that Toulouse may need to rely on “an individual exploit” is also brought up, stressing that Luke McAlister’s possible inclusion on the bench may be crucial in that regard.
Alan Quinlan is interviewed as part of a recounting of the 2008 Heineken Cup final between Toulouse and Munster, with particular attention given to Fabien Pelous’ sin-binning for kicking the Irish back row in the arse.
Pelous says it is “the worst memory” of his career, and stresses that it was the one occasion on which he felt personally and singularly responsible for his team’s defeat. “We were ready to do anything to win the game,” says Quinlan.
Turning the attention to Leinster, Bruno Poussard’s piece says the eastern province’s backline looks “like being a major advantage” at Stade Mayol, while also pointing to Matt O’Connor’s “powerful pack”.
C’est parti!
