Champions Cup: Second-half Toulouse blitz floors Bulls to secure a quarter-final spot

Jared Wright
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Toulouse claimed their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals by scoring three tries to defeat the Bulls 33-9 on Sunday.

Toulouse claimed their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals by scoring three tries to defeat the Bulls 33-9 on Sunday.

It took 50 minutes for the opening try to be scored as Emmanuel Meafou powered over the line, with Matthis Lebel and Thibaud Flament scoring soon after.

All of the Bulls’ points came via the boot of Chris Smith, who slotted three penalties during the game. Man of the match, Thomas Ramos, scored 18 points off the tee.

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The hosts led 12-6 at the break, with all of the points coming from the boots of Ramos and Smith in a battle of penalties, but it was a different story in the second half as Toulouse’s dominance showed.

Meafou got the first in the 51st minute as Toulouse cashed in from a penalty close to the Bulls’ line. The forwards were stalled by some sharp defence by the Bulls, but Meafou swept around to the blindside and collected the ball at pace from Antoine Dupont to charge over the line.

It did not take long for Toulouse to strike again. In the 54th minute, Dupont received the ball off the back of a scrum and sent Lebel tearing down the touchline.

Bulls number eight Elrigh Louw sprinted after the speedster and came close to stopping the winger as he put in an excellent tackle. However, Lebel’s feet lifted at just the right time as he dotted down in the corner.

Ramos added the extras to both tries as the hosts went into a 26-9 lead.

Toulouse then put the game to bed just after the hour mark after forcing a turnover from a Bulls scrum. They whipped the ball quickly to the right before Flament made a searing break when they came back to the middle of the pitch.

He found Dupont in support as the scrum-half raced into the Bulls’ 22.

Under a penalty advantage, Dupont chipped the ball over the Bulls’ defence and try line. Ruan Nortje beat an on-rushing Romain Ntamack but spilt the ball in an attempt to grab it, knocking it into Flament’s path, who just had to dive on the ball.

Toulouse will now welcome the Sharks in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.

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