WITH 50 MINUTES on the clock at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday, and his team trailing 21-14 in their Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final, Rory Arnold faced a nervous wait.
Moments before, the Toulouse second row had sent Munster winger Simon Zebo crashing into the turf.
A card was coming, that much was clear, and the home crowd wanted red. Referee Luke Pearce eventually settled on yellow, outlining that while it was “a very forceful hit”, Zebo had landed on his back rather than his head – an unpopular call with the Munster faithful, as Arnold was sent to the bin for 10 minutes.
Looking back at the incident, Arnold admits he was fearing the worst as Pearce examined the footage.
“I was (worried) to be honest,” Arnold says.
When they slowed it down, there wasn’t much in it. I definitely got that one wrong. Yeah, if I was shown red then, it would definitely drastically changed the outcome of that game. I was very lucky there and I need to be better around that collision zone.”
Munster would only add a further three points to their tally during the time Arnold was on the sideline, and with the lock back on the field for the final 20, the French side drew level to send the game to extra time, eventually winning a thrilling contest on penalties.
It was a cruel way to decide a game, with the confusion in the stands also evident on the pitch as Toulouse’s Romain Ntamack celebrated prematurely.
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Arnold heads for the sideline following his yellow card. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“I wasn’t really sure how it was supposed to end with the kicking,” Arnold admits.
“I’d never been in a situation like that. I wasn’t sure was it the best of three, or six. I wasn’t sure. What do you do? [as an alternative]… Pack up and come again next week and have another crack at it? It is a pretty brutal way to finish a game really.”
Of course, the tight turnaround between the quarter-finals and semi-finals took a replay out of the equation, and while penalties isn’t an ideal solution, there is also a player welfare issue when to comes extending extra time.
“I only played 90 (minutes) and I was absolutely dusted,” Arnold continues. “I couldn’t imagine going another 10 or 15.
Maybe you could go another 10 points, a golden point or whatever you call it. Another five or 10 minutes, surely a team would have to concede a penalty. So maybe that’s something to look at in the future.”
Toulouse are back in Dublin this weekend to take on Leinster, a club desperate to join the five-time champions at the top of the Champions Cup roll of honour.
Arnold – capped 22 times for the Wallabies – is one of only 11 Australians to have won the competition, having been part of Toulouse’s double-winning team alongside twin brother Richie last year.
The French giants are travelling to Ireland a day earlier this week in a bid to aid their preparations for another massive knockout European tie, Ugo Mola’s men making the trip today ahead of Saturday’s 3pm kick-off.
The game sees defending champions Toulouse face a third Irish opponent across their European season, having edged past Ulster in their two-legged round of 16 tie before that dramatic win over Munster.
“I guess (it helps) a little bit in that we travelled away and got the results in those two games, but in saying that I think they’re the benchmark, they’re a step up in terms of Irish rugby,” Arnold says of Leinster.
“We’re going to have to be very, very good and clinical if we want to get the result on Saturday.
I think they’ll play field position a fair bit and put our back three under pressure in regards to contestable kicks and what not. For us, if we can defend well and exit clinically, I think that will be a massive part in getting a result.
“To be the best you’ve got to beat the best, and we’ve definitely had some tough teams on the way to this semi-final. It’s no different this weekend, they’re a world class team.”
Toulouse have plenty of world class talent themselves. Half-back duo Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack take most of the headlines, but Mola’s team also possess a powerful pack and a bench stacked with quality.
The Australian is a key man in the Toulouse pack. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
It all makes for an intriguing matchup given how Leinster have struggled in the physicality department against La Rochelle and Saracens in recent seasons, with their maul defence and scrum also feeling some pressure against Leicester Tigers last weekend.
“I guess when you have got quality forwards around, you’re all just feeding off each other,” Arnold explains.
“The setpiece battle is going to be massive for us; scrum, maul, lineout, you’ve got a solid base that’s going to go a long way towards getting a result so I think we just have to continue to build on the things we got right last week in and around our scrum, tweak a few things around lineout, because we know they’ve got a good lineout defence and hopefully it’s good enough to get the result on Saturday.
“Even this season we haven’t been playing our best rugby but we’ve been scraping through, so we can sort of take confidence from that and say if we can put an 80 minute performance together, we should be good enough to get a result.”
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'I definitely got that one wrong' - Toulouse lock Arnold on Zebo tackle and 'world class' Leinster
LAST UPDATE | 12 May 2022
WITH 50 MINUTES on the clock at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday, and his team trailing 21-14 in their Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final, Rory Arnold faced a nervous wait.
Moments before, the Toulouse second row had sent Munster winger Simon Zebo crashing into the turf.
A card was coming, that much was clear, and the home crowd wanted red. Referee Luke Pearce eventually settled on yellow, outlining that while it was “a very forceful hit”, Zebo had landed on his back rather than his head – an unpopular call with the Munster faithful, as Arnold was sent to the bin for 10 minutes.
Looking back at the incident, Arnold admits he was fearing the worst as Pearce examined the footage.
“I was (worried) to be honest,” Arnold says.
Munster would only add a further three points to their tally during the time Arnold was on the sideline, and with the lock back on the field for the final 20, the French side drew level to send the game to extra time, eventually winning a thrilling contest on penalties.
It was a cruel way to decide a game, with the confusion in the stands also evident on the pitch as Toulouse’s Romain Ntamack celebrated prematurely.
“I wasn’t really sure how it was supposed to end with the kicking,” Arnold admits.
“I’d never been in a situation like that. I wasn’t sure was it the best of three, or six. I wasn’t sure. What do you do? [as an alternative]… Pack up and come again next week and have another crack at it? It is a pretty brutal way to finish a game really.”
Of course, the tight turnaround between the quarter-finals and semi-finals took a replay out of the equation, and while penalties isn’t an ideal solution, there is also a player welfare issue when to comes extending extra time.
“I only played 90 (minutes) and I was absolutely dusted,” Arnold continues. “I couldn’t imagine going another 10 or 15.
Toulouse are back in Dublin this weekend to take on Leinster, a club desperate to join the five-time champions at the top of the Champions Cup roll of honour.
Arnold – capped 22 times for the Wallabies – is one of only 11 Australians to have won the competition, having been part of Toulouse’s double-winning team alongside twin brother Richie last year.
The French giants are travelling to Ireland a day earlier this week in a bid to aid their preparations for another massive knockout European tie, Ugo Mola’s men making the trip today ahead of Saturday’s 3pm kick-off.
The game sees defending champions Toulouse face a third Irish opponent across their European season, having edged past Ulster in their two-legged round of 16 tie before that dramatic win over Munster.
“I guess (it helps) a little bit in that we travelled away and got the results in those two games, but in saying that I think they’re the benchmark, they’re a step up in terms of Irish rugby,” Arnold says of Leinster.
“We’re going to have to be very, very good and clinical if we want to get the result on Saturday.
“To be the best you’ve got to beat the best, and we’ve definitely had some tough teams on the way to this semi-final. It’s no different this weekend, they’re a world class team.”
Toulouse have plenty of world class talent themselves. Half-back duo Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack take most of the headlines, but Mola’s team also possess a powerful pack and a bench stacked with quality.
It all makes for an intriguing matchup given how Leinster have struggled in the physicality department against La Rochelle and Saracens in recent seasons, with their maul defence and scrum also feeling some pressure against Leicester Tigers last weekend.
“I guess when you have got quality forwards around, you’re all just feeding off each other,” Arnold explains.
“The setpiece battle is going to be massive for us; scrum, maul, lineout, you’ve got a solid base that’s going to go a long way towards getting a result so I think we just have to continue to build on the things we got right last week in and around our scrum, tweak a few things around lineout, because we know they’ve got a good lineout defence and hopefully it’s good enough to get the result on Saturday.
“Even this season we haven’t been playing our best rugby but we’ve been scraping through, so we can sort of take confidence from that and say if we can put an 80 minute performance together, we should be good enough to get a result.”
Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
European Rugby Champions Cup Leinster Relief Rory Arnold Stade Toulousain