Killer boot: Luke McAlister
Luke McAlister kicked eighteen points to help Toulouse to a 24-15 win over Castres in a try-less Top 14 semi-final at the Stadium de Toulouse on Saturday.
The result means the defending champions will head to Paris next week hunting their 19th French crown against the winners of Sunday's semi-final between Clermont and Toulon at the same venue.
McAlister's long-range kicking shoes and an extraordinary try-saving tackle from Vincent Clerc proved Castres's undoing in a hard-fought clash.
McAlister landed six penalties, including two from inside his own half, while Lionel Beauxis also kick six points, including an excellent drop to secure victory for the hosts.
Castres came the closest to crossing the whitewash shortly before half time when Max Evans broke clear only to be chased down, tackled and rolled onto his back on the tryline by Clerc. It will surely go down as one of the tackles of the season.
Despite being reduced to 13 men in the closing stages of the first half, Toulouse led 15-12 as the teams headed to the changing rooms.
Castres sharpshooter Pierre Bernard levelled the scores shortly after the restart but the strength of the home pack proved the difference between the sides as they won three more penalties in the final half hour, which former All Black McAlister duly sent over the crossbar.
"I'm really happy, everyone in the dressing room was," said McAlister.
"Tonight, my kicking was good. I haven't had that kind of success with the boot lately."
The scorers:
For Toulouse:
Pens: McAlister 6, Beauxis
Drop: Beauxis
For Castres:
Pens: Bernard 3, Teulet
Drop: Bernard
Yellow cards: Fritz (Toulouse - 32nd min - high tackle); Matanavou (Toulouse - 37th min - cynical offside)
Toulouse: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Thierry Dusautoir, 7 Louis Picamoles, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Romain Millo-Chluski, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Yann David, 22 Yannick Jauzion, 23 Yohan Montès.
Castres: 15 Romain Teulet, 14 Romain Martial, 13 Max Evans, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Thierry Lacrampe, 8 Yannick Caballero, 7 Matemini Masoe, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Replacements: 16 Marc Antoine Tallier, 17 Saimone Taumoepeau, 18 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 19 Jannie Bornman, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Seremaia Baï, 22 Thomas Sanchou, 23 Karena Wihongi.
Referee: Jérôme Garces
Comments
gauca says...
jonesy2 - Like PDelot said earlier in the piece, Burgess was bought to replace players like Ellisalde and Kelleher both who could dictate and control a game, I know Burgess is a quality player but I haven't seen him do anything of merit as a nine, as yet at least.
Though petulantly saying 'he and mcalister both tear up your sorry competition' suggests your basing your opinions on reputation and not form, because for the most part of the season they have been out of sorts. If you new much of the t14 you would know this.
I personally thought we had a good potential partnership developing in a Doussain/Bezy pairing last season, but I believe Bezy is off to SFrancais in the next, having been given little to no game time this season. For me that is a pity.
Posted 09:07 04th June 2012
jonesy2 says...
gauca -- cant take you seriously. burgess is one of the very best half backs in the world and he and mcalister both tear up your sorry competition. if mcalister and burgess were both still at the blues and waratahs respectively they would both be better teams. not that i am a fan of mcalisters attitude.
Posted 05:24 04th June 2012
LeftRightOut says...
Two semi finals, 66 points in total, zero tries. *Yawn*.....
Posted 00:03 04th June 2012
LeftRightOut says...
Two semi finals, 66 points in total, zero tries. *Yawn*.....
Posted 00:02 04th June 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Whilst I agree that MacA has been no great star since his arrival at Toulouse, Burgess has played pretty well. But he succeeded Ellisalde and Kelleher, both of whom could dictate games and were class acts and overall the Toulouse back line isn't in the same class at the moment. Jauzion has had a poor season following on from a season when he dominated centre field in the six nations. Fritz is steady but lacks outright pace and has acquired the knack of accumulating yellow cards at regular intervals. David is getting back into it but is yet to prove his real worth. It was a dour game, true, but didn't lack effort, just imagination in the middle, something Toulouse have had in spades until this season. But Masoe was man of the match no doubt, Toulon will be a real threat next season no matter what happens this afternoon. Toulouse and France will struggle to replace Servat who stayed out far longer than I expected and the Toulouse pack doesn't lack guile or muscle, its outside they are short of class. Neither Beauxis or McAlister show any sign of flair or reliability. Doussain looks good at times but seems to lack intelligence at important moments taking the wrong options. Still, Paris here we come.
Posted 14:24 03rd June 2012
Rayz says...
IMHO going for a penalty kick inside your own half should be stopped. Drop kicks should be limited to either 1 or 2 points only. (Drop kicks should only be used as a way of deciding close games rather than a way of accumulating points.)
Posted 12:09 03rd June 2012
sheridan says...
Anyone know when Caucau is back? If ever...
Posted 11:00 03rd June 2012
gauca says...
Gents, McAllister is no star in the t14, far from it I can assure you, alot of us Toulouse fans see him as much as a liability as you are implying, it just happened that yesterday he managed to hit the preverbial barn door for once, hence being newsworthy! IMHO the sooner he and Burgess are shown the door the better for us.
the_mai, I couldn't agree more, kicking from 50 - 60 metres at goal spoils a game. I would very much advocate a penalty becoming 2points to hopefully limit this negative style of speculative rugby.
Yesterdays game was a dour game of two huge packs fighting for dominance which Toulouse eventually won after about seventy minutes. I'm greatful we are through but the final is going to be a big ask against the winner of Clermont and Toulon, both of whom are extremely hungry for silverware.
McAllister has made the headlines in this article but the stand out players from yeterday were Masoe and Tekori, they were men possesed and left nothing on the pitch.
Posted 10:18 03rd June 2012
whizz52 says...
Agreed Jmanngod. MacAlister was a very average AB and cost us big time when he returned to NZ. Would not be welcomed back at North Harbour either.
Posted 02:20 03rd June 2012
tha_mai says...
13 successful shots at goal . . . how many more were missed? whatever happened to kicking for the corner, going for a lineout and a try?
Posted 01:26 03rd June 2012
Jmanngod says...
hard to rate a competition where a player like MacAlister is a star...
Posted 21:53 02nd June 2012