LEINSTER AND TOULON both turn to important league matters for the next two weekends before they go head-to-head in their Champions Cup semi-final in Dublin on 2 May.
Leo Cullen’s side will be favourites on home soil for that clash, but Leinster will surely be more guarded than ever against getting ahead of themselves.
Let’s not forget that Cullen himself suggested that the “very bad kick in the hole” he and his team suffered in last season’s semi-final loss to Northampton at the Aviva Stadium was down to complacency.
Cullen’s team selection was one hint of that, with Jordie Barrett infamously left on the bench, but the absent-minded Leinster performance was the biggest indicator of all.
After their 62-0 and 52-0 hammerings of Harlequins and Glasgow in the preceding rounds, “did we get seduced into thinking we’re a little bit better than we were on the day?” That’s how Cullen put it.
So his job, along with Jacques Nienaber and everyone else, is to make sure the entire Leinster set-up is firing on all cylinders when Toulon come to town.
Pierre Mignoni’s men will readily embrace the role of underdogs, just as Northampton did last season. The Saints framed themselves as a tighter group than Leinster and it’s impossible to forget Henry Pollock promising that Leinster would “start s******g themselves” early in the second half.
Before the Champions Cup semi-final, Toulon have a couple of important Top 14 games to navigate. The former heavyweights have had a bad time of it recently in the French top flight.
In fact, Toulon’s most recent Top 14 win was in January when they pipped Montpellier at home.
Since then, Mignoni’s side have lost away to Pau, lost at home against Clermont, drawn away in Lyon, lost at home to Stade Français, and suffered a defeat away in Perpignan. That miserable run has left them sitting 11th in the Top 14 table, seven points off the play-off spots with six regular-season games remaining.
Gaël Dréan is in cracking form. Federico Pestellini / INPHO
Federico Pestellini / INPHO / INPHO
Their mission to drive back up the table begins on Saturday in Montauban, who have won just one of their 20 games this season. The following weekend, Toulon host Bayonne, who are currently just above them in the table.
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The Champions Cup has actually been the scene for Toulon reinvigorating their season, with the dramatic 28-27 win over the Stormers at home in the Round of 16 followed by last weekend’s thrilling 22-19 win away against Glasgow.
The Scots had been fancied to set up a home semi-final against Leinster, but Toulon hadn’t read the script.
Perhaps the most impressive thing was that a team that had been struggling to win games never looked stressed, even when Glasgow had momentum. An early Warriors try? No problem. A huge Rory Darge turnover under the Glasgow posts when the home team had gone 19-17 ahead in the second half? No bother.
Toulon found ways to do damage, initially through wildly in-form wing Gaël Dréan, who has 16 tries in 19 starts so far this season. The 25-year-old has yet to make his France debut, but he just keeps getting better and more confident.
Italy centre Nacho Brex proved to be the match-winner with a try from inside his own half just minutes after that Darge turnover penalty.
It was a clever score as Brex seemingly recognised that Glasgow scrum-half Ben Afshar [red below] was running in behind him looking for the intercept or a ball-and-all tackle if Brex threw the pullback pass.
That left Brex one-on-one with Glasgow out-half Adam Hastings, who probably hoped Afshar would have his inside shoulder, then bought the dummy from Brex.
Glasgow openside flanker Darge had been chasing hard from the scrum, working to get across the pitch, and couldn’t adjust back in as Brex stepped.
Brex then swerved around Glasgow fullback Josh McKay and went all the way.
There were still 20 minutes left at Scotstoun and Glasgow would have fancied their attack to get them out of trouble, but Toulon held firm.
There was a high ball-in-play time in the game, meaning lots of defending.
Toulon had to make a huge 227 tackles, but they limited Glasgow to only five linebreaks.
France’s Charles Ollivon topped the charts with 21 tackles, but fellow les Bleus international Jean-Baptiste Gros wasn’t far behind on 18, and ex-England tighthead Kyle Sinckler was busy too. They’re just three of the high-quality players Toulon can call on.
Brex and Dréan were the backline stars again last weekend, while Argentina out-half Tomás Albornoz showed again why he was an astute addition from Benetton midway through this season.
Toulon did have the misfortune of losing fullback Marius Domon to an ACL injury against the Stormers. Domon had been in superb goal-kicking form, operating at well over 90% this season, but Toulon have another place-kicking fullback in Melvyn Jaminet, although he hasn’t been as accurate as usual recently.
Scotland scrum-half Ben White is a smart operator, and it was fitting that the glue-like figure of 35-year-old centre Jérémy Sinzelle made the game-sealing turnover in Glasgow.
Former England international David Ribbans led the team from the second row, while the likes of Italian hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi, English back row Zach Mercer, and experienced France scrum-half Baptiste Serin offered quality from the bench.
Beka Gigashvili and Juan Ignacio Brex in Glasgow. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Also among the replacements against Glasgow was loosehead prop Daniel Brennan. The Dublin native is in his second season with Toulon after four years in Brive. The 27-year-old loosehead will join Montauban this summer but before that move, he would love a chance to play against Leinster in the semi-final.
This might not be the Galactico-laden Toulon of old, but it’s a squad with plenty of talent, which has made their poor run in the Top 14 all the more curious.
They finished fourth and third in the Top 14 regular seasons in the last two years, so the dip has been a surprise.
The short-term plan is that wins against Montauban and Bayonne will begin to address this season’s issues, then Toulon will head for Dublin without much pressure weighing them down.
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Toulon will love their crack at Leinster in Dublin semi-final
LEINSTER AND TOULON both turn to important league matters for the next two weekends before they go head-to-head in their Champions Cup semi-final in Dublin on 2 May.
Leo Cullen’s side will be favourites on home soil for that clash, but Leinster will surely be more guarded than ever against getting ahead of themselves.
Let’s not forget that Cullen himself suggested that the “very bad kick in the hole” he and his team suffered in last season’s semi-final loss to Northampton at the Aviva Stadium was down to complacency.
Cullen’s team selection was one hint of that, with Jordie Barrett infamously left on the bench, but the absent-minded Leinster performance was the biggest indicator of all.
After their 62-0 and 52-0 hammerings of Harlequins and Glasgow in the preceding rounds, “did we get seduced into thinking we’re a little bit better than we were on the day?” That’s how Cullen put it.
So his job, along with Jacques Nienaber and everyone else, is to make sure the entire Leinster set-up is firing on all cylinders when Toulon come to town.
Pierre Mignoni’s men will readily embrace the role of underdogs, just as Northampton did last season. The Saints framed themselves as a tighter group than Leinster and it’s impossible to forget Henry Pollock promising that Leinster would “start s******g themselves” early in the second half.
Before the Champions Cup semi-final, Toulon have a couple of important Top 14 games to navigate. The former heavyweights have had a bad time of it recently in the French top flight.
In fact, Toulon’s most recent Top 14 win was in January when they pipped Montpellier at home.
Since then, Mignoni’s side have lost away to Pau, lost at home against Clermont, drawn away in Lyon, lost at home to Stade Français, and suffered a defeat away in Perpignan. That miserable run has left them sitting 11th in the Top 14 table, seven points off the play-off spots with six regular-season games remaining.
Their mission to drive back up the table begins on Saturday in Montauban, who have won just one of their 20 games this season. The following weekend, Toulon host Bayonne, who are currently just above them in the table.
The Champions Cup has actually been the scene for Toulon reinvigorating their season, with the dramatic 28-27 win over the Stormers at home in the Round of 16 followed by last weekend’s thrilling 22-19 win away against Glasgow.
The Scots had been fancied to set up a home semi-final against Leinster, but Toulon hadn’t read the script.
Perhaps the most impressive thing was that a team that had been struggling to win games never looked stressed, even when Glasgow had momentum. An early Warriors try? No problem. A huge Rory Darge turnover under the Glasgow posts when the home team had gone 19-17 ahead in the second half? No bother.
Toulon found ways to do damage, initially through wildly in-form wing Gaël Dréan, who has 16 tries in 19 starts so far this season. The 25-year-old has yet to make his France debut, but he just keeps getting better and more confident.
Italy centre Nacho Brex proved to be the match-winner with a try from inside his own half just minutes after that Darge turnover penalty.
It was a clever score as Brex seemingly recognised that Glasgow scrum-half Ben Afshar [red below] was running in behind him looking for the intercept or a ball-and-all tackle if Brex threw the pullback pass.
That left Brex one-on-one with Glasgow out-half Adam Hastings, who probably hoped Afshar would have his inside shoulder, then bought the dummy from Brex.
Glasgow openside flanker Darge had been chasing hard from the scrum, working to get across the pitch, and couldn’t adjust back in as Brex stepped.
Brex then swerved around Glasgow fullback Josh McKay and went all the way.
There were still 20 minutes left at Scotstoun and Glasgow would have fancied their attack to get them out of trouble, but Toulon held firm.
There was a high ball-in-play time in the game, meaning lots of defending.
Toulon had to make a huge 227 tackles, but they limited Glasgow to only five linebreaks.
France’s Charles Ollivon topped the charts with 21 tackles, but fellow les Bleus international Jean-Baptiste Gros wasn’t far behind on 18, and ex-England tighthead Kyle Sinckler was busy too. They’re just three of the high-quality players Toulon can call on.
Brex and Dréan were the backline stars again last weekend, while Argentina out-half Tomás Albornoz showed again why he was an astute addition from Benetton midway through this season.
Toulon did have the misfortune of losing fullback Marius Domon to an ACL injury against the Stormers. Domon had been in superb goal-kicking form, operating at well over 90% this season, but Toulon have another place-kicking fullback in Melvyn Jaminet, although he hasn’t been as accurate as usual recently.
Scotland scrum-half Ben White is a smart operator, and it was fitting that the glue-like figure of 35-year-old centre Jérémy Sinzelle made the game-sealing turnover in Glasgow.
Former England international David Ribbans led the team from the second row, while the likes of Italian hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi, English back row Zach Mercer, and experienced France scrum-half Baptiste Serin offered quality from the bench.
Also among the replacements against Glasgow was loosehead prop Daniel Brennan. The Dublin native is in his second season with Toulon after four years in Brive. The 27-year-old loosehead will join Montauban this summer but before that move, he would love a chance to play against Leinster in the semi-final.
This might not be the Galactico-laden Toulon of old, but it’s a squad with plenty of talent, which has made their poor run in the Top 14 all the more curious.
They finished fourth and third in the Top 14 regular seasons in the last two years, so the dip has been a surprise.
The short-term plan is that wins against Montauban and Bayonne will begin to address this season’s issues, then Toulon will head for Dublin without much pressure weighing them down.
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Champions Cup Leinster Semi-final Toulon Toulonais Underdogs