Epic scrap: Toulouse sneak it
Toulouse managed to escape one of the biggest shocks in Heineken Cup history as they recovered to defeat Treviso 33-21 in Italy on Saturday.
The Italians responded to the energy of the crowd early on at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo, playing with passion and enthusiasm and even having the edge over Toulouse in the scrum.
The Frenchmen were guilty of ill-discipline too, conceding a number of penalties at the breakdown as well as the set-piece, and Treviso fly-half Kristopher Burton was having a particularly successful day with the boot and kicked six from six in the first half.
The hosts did have to hold on in defence at times when Toulouse attempted to play a more expansive game but they defended manfully and Luke McAlister could only manage half the number of penalties as his opposite number to leave the score 18-9 at the break.
McAlister and Burton exchanged penalties again early in the second half and, when Vincent Clerc was sent to the sin-bin shortly afterwards, the visitors would have been fearing the worst.
But Robert Barbieri followed him into the bin five minutes later and Toulouse took advantage of his absence by scoring a penalty try after their scrum was rumbling inexorably towards the line.
The Treviso defence was starting to tire and Louis Picamoles found a gaping hole in it moments later and surged forwards before brushing off several tackles and powering his way over to give his side the lead.
The Italians were unable to deal with the strength of their opponents as the game wore on and, after the forwards continued to dominate, McAlister chipped the ball over the top for Clerc to touch down under the posts.
Toulouse were unable to get the fourth try and the bonus-point in the final quarter of an hour though and there was a slightly sour ending to the match as Christopher Tolofua was sent off after getting his second yellow card of the game for tipping Fabio Semenzato on his head.
The scorers:
For Treviso:
Pen: Burton 7
For Toulouse:
Tries: Penalty, Picamoles, Clerc
Con: McAlister 3
Pen: McAlister 4
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Tobie Botes, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Alberto de Marchi, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Marco Filippucci, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Andrea Pratichetti.
Toulouse: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Jean Marc Doussain, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Romain Millo Chlusky, 3 Yohan Montès, 2 Christopher Tolofua, 1 Jean Batiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Gregory Lamboley, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Yannick Jauzion, 23 Clement Poitrenaud.
Referee: Leighton Hodges
Comments
pierredelot1 says...
Typical Toulouse perfprmance. Put them up against relative minnows and they don't give it 100% from the off. It's as if they don't care. Probably the most annoying aspect of French Rugby. I don't care who they're playing they are professionals and should give it 100% for 80 minutes, sadly they sometimes don't. Even the French national side does it. Huget has been playing well at 15, more solid than Poitrenaud, especially indefence, but probably suffered from that who cares attitude.
Posted 11:18 22nd October 2012
Carpelone says...
How bad is Houget??
Posted 19:50 21st October 2012
Carpelone says...
This ref blows what he sees, not the names.
At the end, it was no close, yet Treviso denied a crucial bonus point to Toulouse. They had nothing to louse....
Either Ospreys or Leicester or both could fall here.
Rosbif, South Africans get the same treatment, we have to be so much better to overcome the golden boys of the colonies (New Zealand first and then Australia) and we often succeed.
Posted 19:48 21st October 2012
Lacroix says...
It didn't seems as close as all that to me. Yes, not an easy win, and yes 18-9 at ht, but already it was clear that whenever Toulouse started to move the ball wide treviso were hanging on. I always felt fitness and bench would probably (probably!) win the day. That's not to take anything away from treviso who were terrifically committed.
And I agree that the ref was excellent.
Posted 09:04 21st October 2012
Rosbif says...
Agree carpelone. Finally a ref that was not crazily anti-Italian. I guess when there are two "latin" teams, it is not clear which is the villain of the piece!!
I must confess to having bitten my fingernails to the bone in the first half. 18-9 down at half time. But then, the front row bench came on, and at the end, the realisation that we could not score another try in the last 20 minutes made me feel disappointed.
I guess that's why there is the expresson...."there's no pleasing some people"
Treviso should win at least one home game this season imo. Let's hope they do it in style!
....now, let's go have fun pig-wrestling on the other pages hehehe :-)
Posted 23:16 20th October 2012
carpelone says...
This ref is excellent. Good match, I wonder why Smith did not substitute Treviso front row early. Scrum dominance was the key of Toulouse's come back. Good to see Steenkamp is such good form.
The game was quite enjoyable.
Italy management needs to address things with Benvenuti, his defense of the outside channel is awful.
Posted 18:04 20th October 2012
melkdave says...
Well i lived in hope for a long time in this match.Treviso where fantastic 1st half .Had Toulouse on the ropes in the forwards ect ,and making them pay for any mistake.Then Toulouse sent on the cavalry in the form of C.Johnstone ,and the whole match dynamic changed.Hats off too both teams though for providing such a god match ,and for it not being one sided .
Posted 15:55 20th October 2012