Toulouse thumped in Brive

Editor

Toulouse have yet to win on the road in the Top 14 this season after losing 25-13 to Brive at Stade Amedee Domenech on Saturday.

Toulouse have yet to win on the road in the Top 14 this season after losing 25-13 to Brive at Stade Amedee Domenech on Saturday.

Brive remain unbeaten at home this term while Toulouse's only success away from the the Ville Rose is their one-point win over Saracens at Wembley.

In wet conditions, Brive led 16-0 at half time against a Toulouse side that would have been embarrassed by their first 40 minutes.

The visitors were better in the second period and managed to bag a try to match Brive's early score, but the league leaders at the start of the weekend were nevertheless convincingly outplayed over the course of the match.

The Toulouse set piece was a mess with Springbok hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle missing his line-out jumpers four times in the first half-hour, while the scrum retreated with alarming regularity. Les Rouge et Noir were clumsy in attack and lacked commitment in defence, allowing Brive to totally dominate the opening period.

Brive hooker Guillaume Ribes opened the scoring in the first minute when Ralepelle's first throw went right over the top of the line-out, leaving his opposite number with the simple task of catching the ball and charging over.

Brive full-back Gaetan Germain ensured the scoreboard kept ticking with three penalties to give the hosts a healthy lead at the interval.

Toulouse boss Guy Novès wasted no time in taking corrective measures, replacing the entire Toulouse front row and introducing Thierry Dusautoir off the bench for the second half.

The changes immediately had an impact and Lionel Beauxis put the visitors on the board just six minutes after the restart.

Dusautoir soon undid that good work however, as he was sent to the sin bin for tackling Brive fly-half Riaan Swanepoel without the ball.

Germain kicked two more penalties around the hour mark to move the score out to 22-3.

Beauxis pulled three points back for Toulouse thanks to a scrum penalty before Yoann Huget touched down in the corner to round off a textbook attacking movement off the back of a five-metre scrum.

Beauxis added the conversion to bring some sort of respectability to the scoreline but Germain landed his sixth penalty in the final minute to ensure that Toulouse would head home with their heads hung very low after a below-par performance.

The scorers:

For Brive:
Try: Ribes
Con: Germain
Pens: Germain 6

For Toulouse:
Try: Huget
Con: Beauxis
Pens: Beauxis 2
Yellow card: Dusautoir

Brive: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Guillaume Namy, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Thomas Laranjeira, 11 Elia Radikedike, 10 Riaan Swanepoel, 9 Jean Baptiste Pejoine, 8 Sisaro Koyamaibole, 7 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 6 Petrus Hauman, 5 Arnaud Mela, 4 Julien Ledevedec, 3 Patrick Barnard, 2 Guillaume Ribes, 1 Karlen Asieshvili.
Replacements: 16 Francois Da ros, 17 Johannes Coetzee, 18 Simon Pinet, 19 Said Hireche, 20 Thomas Sanchou, 21 Romain Sola, 22 Andrew Mailei, 23 Kevin Buys.

Toulouse: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Yann David, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Gillian Galan, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Louis Picamoles, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Joe Tekori, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp,
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Yoann Maestri, 19 Gregory Lamboley, 20 Jean Marc Doussain, 21 Maxime Medard, 22 Thierry Dusautoir, 23 Yohan Montes.