Champions Cup: Five takeaways from Toulouse v Sharks as the five-time champions sweep aside the tired Durbanites

James While
Champions Cup Five take aways toulouse v sharks thomas ramos

Following Toulouse’s 54-20 Champions Cup triumph over the Sharks at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the action.

The top line

A game played in most part at a ferocious pace saw the Sharks push five-time champions Toulouse much closer than the scoreline of 54-20, but in the final analysis, the brilliance of Thomas Ramos and Antoine Dupont were simply too much for the travelling South Africans.

The French side scored seven tries to two, with four of them coming in the last 15 minutes as the tired Sharks, who had each endured a 24-hour transit flying in economy, simply drained their energy tanks in a spirited last-quarter attempt to play catch-up rugby.

Many are saying around the game that Dupont is playing rugby in a league all of his own at the moment – well, the worrying sign for all is that Ramos isn’t far behind him. Fatigued the Sharks may have been, but very little is capable of stopping the pace, vision and precision of these two incredible players. Add in stars elsewhere in the side like Romain Ntamack and the tireless Francois Cros and Jack Willis in the back-row, and there’s little doubt that this Toulouse side currently have something of a golden generation at their disposal.

The Sharks will trek back to Durban leg weary, mentally fatigued and disappointed, but for the most part of this game, they played with brilliance with ball in hand and can be extremely proud of their Champions Cup campaign this season.

Style contrast

For the first half, the most notable aspect of the match was that the Sharks played a brilliant, almost French style, running game, with Lukhanyo Am, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Curwin Bosch playing some scintillating running rugby, resulting in a try for Grant Williams and a couple of others chalked off due to forward passes.

By contrast, Toulouse played big man rugby in the style of a South African side, with some powerful shifts from Emanuel Meafou, Dorian Aldegheri and Peato Mauvaka prominent in the close quarter exchanges and with the all-France Test front-row of Toulouse very much getting the better of their all-Springbok Shark opponents.

Early doors, Toulouse held on by the skin of their teeth as the Sharks came out hot; the first plays saw waves of phases by the visitors until a Willis steal under the posts put paid to their attacks. Notshe almost scored one of the tries of the season down the left flank, but referee Karl Dickson called them back for an obvious obstruction.

But as fatigue set in and as the Toulouse power game drained the energy of the visitors, so they started to fall off tackles and with the pace that Ramos, Dupont and Ntamack were creating, crucially using the full width of the pitch to attack with some wonderful running support lines from the scrum-half, the floodgates simply opened, and the Sharks were washed away.

Magnificent Ramos

A couple of years ago, urban legend has it that Fabien Galthie had a conversation with Ramos about the structure he needed him to deliver with France. Ramos replied to Galthie something along the lines of ‘that’s my game, I play head’s up rugby’. If you need structure, pick someone else because I am not changing.

It’s a good job he refused to change because, over the last year or so, he has added a new dimension to every team he plays in and has become, without question, the best full-back in the world and his dominance and vision are fast becoming an integral part of both Toulouse and France.

His relationship with Dupont is a little deeper than it might first appear; Ramos and Ntamack operate seamlessly as interchangeable fly-halves, both playing off the creative genius of Dupont at nine. In game situations, this allows Toulouse to play with incredible width, teasing defenders on the outside but once around them, allowing two half-backs to support at all times, as evidenced on a couple of occasions, both seeing Ramos scoot over.

Ramos may have turned Galthie down initially, but there’s little doubt now that he’s as important to France as any other player they have in their squad, possibly even including the great Dupont himself.

Work-ons

The Sharks greatly missed Eben Etzebeth today and, for a South Africa-based side, looked decidedly underpowered. Their back-row competed manfully, with Siya Kolisi particularly effective in tidying up some of the breakdown mess and Notshe running some impressive lines. But in the collision and power stakes, they came off second best, struggling to compete with the brilliance and work rate of the Toulouse back-row on the floor and failing to contain the drives of the Meafou power scrum that troubled them all afternoon.

They also need to look at those final pass and opportunity completions, with three tries chalked off – two for forward passes and one for obstruction. More accurate finishing might well have seen them apply even more pressure than they managed to.

Toulouse will be delighted with many aspects of their performance, but the one key thing they failed to do was start hot and control the first 10 minutes, something that will be crucial as they move into the semi-finals. 

But above all, they’ll be intent on improving their discipline. They conceded twice as many penalties as the Sharks and also a soft yellow card after 25 mins, key development areas as they go for their sixth Champions Cup.

The bottom line

To say that Leinster versus Toulouse will be the hottest ticket in rugby this season is no understatement. Two sides that form the spine of their national teams, two countries ranked one and two in the world and two teams that are both desperate to win further silverware, both at national and international levels.

To say it’s the best barometer yet of the Rugby World Cup chances of both is no exaggeration; it is that big and of such high quality. Some might observe that Toulouse have a tiny advantage in pace, power and one-off game-changing players, but to counter that, there’s no doubt that in terms of fitness, continuity and cohesion, Leinster are the rugby benchmark of the club world right now.

As our thoughts move to that immense game in Dublin on 29th April, we must thank the Sharks for the part they’ve played in this season’s Champions Cup. They’ve entertained all with brilliant running and committed attack and have demonstrated a side of South African rugby that we need to see a lot more of.

Today they played their part in a classic, and despite the severity of the scoreline, be under no illusion that they gave Toulouse a mighty scare for 50 minutes today.

READ MORE: Five-time winners Toulouse show class to set up mouth-watering semi-final with Leinster

Champions Cup Antoine Dupont Romain Ntamack Thomas Ramos

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