Ben Youngs sees only one outcome for Saracens as Toulouse side-step ‘unimaginable’ fate
Toulouse and France star Antoine Dupont with an inset of Saracens' Owen Farrell.
It will be one-way traffic at the StoneX Stadium on Saturday when Saracens and Stade Toulousain collide in the Investec Champions Cup.
That is according to former England and Leicester Tigers halfback Ben Youngs, who has confidently predicted a win for the Top 14 giants.
Toulouse are riding high in the French top division, topping the table after 14 rounds of action, but Ugo Mola’s charges were beaten 30-27 by Perpignan last weekend.
Unimaginable outcome
Saracens won’t investigate that result too much as Mola opted to rest many of his top players for round three of the Investec Champions Cup, with the likes of Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, Thomas Ramos and the plethora of French and international stars set to return to action this weekend.
That, paired with the fact that Sarries have been somewhat inconsistent this season, leads Youngs to conclude that there is only one way the result will go in London.
After a shock defeat to Glasgow Warriors last time out in the Champions Cup, Toulouse are in unfamiliar territory – ranked third in Pool 1 – and the former halfback can’t envision the French outfit finishing the group stages in that position.
“If Toulouse loses again, that means they could finish third in the pool, and that is unimaginable,” he said on the For the Love of Rugby podcast, previewing round three of the Investec Champions Cup.
“I just can’t see that happening, given the fact that they rotated their team, they’ll be fully loaded for this one.”
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Inconsistent Saracens
As for Sarries, while they picked a good result against Gloucester, they fell short against Leicester Tigers and have won just four of their nine PREM Rugby fixtures.
“Yes, Saracens beat Gloucester recently, but they’ve been a little bit inconsistent by their high standards,” Youngs continued.
“They’ve got a huge amount of amazing players. There’s a lot of expectation within Sarries’ team because they’ve been so successful over the years, but they’re not quite at the level that we’re so used to seeing, where they used to just churn out performances week in week out.
“So, I think Toulouse go there as favourites, I do.
“They will have too much power, especially now with Dupont back, his relationship with Ntamack, Ramos, all those guys, but I just think the power game, the way they play, Toulouse will win.
“Sarries will still get out of the pool, I believe, but I don’t see them beating Toulouse at the weekend.”
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