Glasgow v Toulouse: Five takeaways as Warriors claim one of their ‘greatest victories’ to spoil Antoine Dupont’s first start since return
Sione Tuipulotu in action for Glasgow against Toulouse and Warriors players celebrate victory.
Following Glasgow Warriors’ 28-21 win over Toulouse, here are our five takeaways from Saturday night’s sensational Investec Champions Cup tie at Scotstoun.
The top line
Glasgow staged a stunning comeback to beat six-time Champions Cup winners Toulouse and make Antoine Dupont’s first start for eight months a memory to forget.
Franco Smith’s side looked dead and buried when trailing 21-0 to the French champions at half-time in filthy conditions at a packed Scotstoun.
Dupont had a try and an assist to his name as he began a game for the first time since rupturing his ACL against Ireland during the Six Nations in March.
But just as they did at Sale Sharks in the opening weekend of the tournament when recovering from 14-0 down, Glasgow blasted back to claim one of their greatest ever victories and top Pool 1 with maximum points.
Scottish rugby exorcises ghost of Argentina
Scottish rugby had been in a state of trauma since Gregor Townsend’s national team capitulated against Argentina in November, blowing a 21-0 lead by conceding four tries in the last 18 minutes at Murrayfield.
The manner of that defeat rocked the rugby nation to its core, and when Toulouse raced into a 21-0 lead here, albeit with the wind at their backs, it looked as though Scottish morale would suffer another bruising night.
But Franco Smith’s team were built of sterner stuff. The boss laid down the law to his players at half-time, moments after Toulouse’s ‘fourth’ try from Ange Capuozzo’s was chalked off for a foot in touch.
Fittingly, Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu, so hurt by the national team’s humiliation against Los Pumas, scored the try which levelled the game before Gregor Hiddleston won it for the home side 10 minutes from time.
Stay calm and carry on
At half-time Smith, the Glasgow head coach, stood in front of his players and delivered the team talk which turned the game on its head.
“His message was pretty simple,” said Warriors centre Staff McDowall. “He told us to stay calm and that if we could fire some shots we could still get the result.”
What transpired surprised even the experienced South African. Evoking the spirit of Jamie Dobie’s try-saving tackle on Capuozzo on the stroke of half-time, they returned to the field and grabbed the contest by the scruff of its neck.
When Josh McKay beat the Toulouse edge to score and pull his hamstring in the process, it seemed it would merely be a consolation score.
But soon after Gregor Brown, making a huge impact off the bench, claimed a second for Glasgow and doubt started to flood into the visiting ranks.
When Tuipulotu bagged the third shortly past the hour mark the momentum was so much with Glasgow that few among the 7,321 crowd doubted a famous win was in the offing.
Then came Hiddleston’s try, from his own lineout put-in and an unstoppable driving maul, and the proverbial roof came off the sodden stadium.
“We believe that we can do well in the competition,” said Smith afterwards. If Toulouse did not believe that before, they will now.
Toulouse’s new centre of attention
As if Europe’s most successful ever team did not already have enough going for them, they introduced a 20-year old midfielder to a British audience for the first time and Kalvin Gourgues made an immediate impression.
In his first full season of senior rugby, the Aucamville youngster has already been capped by France and, last week, scored a try on his Champions Cup debut against the Sharks from Durban.
Here he went one better, striking twice in the first half as Toulouse raced out of the traps with first use of the wind.
His opening try, on 11 minutes, had an element of good fortune as Dupont’s pass appeared forward to Gourgues, who juggled it before going over and surviving appeals to referee Matthew Carley.
No such controversy with his second just before half-time. Toulouse pounded away up the middle before Thomas Ramos called for the ball to go wide and provided the link between Dupont and Gourgues, who beat Josh McKay’s tackle to dot down.
Had Capuozzo not been forced into touch by Dobie’s brilliant tackle with the last play of the half, Gourgues might have had a win to show for his efforts. But the Italian wing was – and on that moment the contest turned.
Dupont back with a bang before it all turns sour
When Dupont marked his first start since March with a try inside seven minutes and followed it up with an assist four minutes later, the game was heading the way of the pre-match script.
The scrum-half, rugby’s best player by general consensus, was bossing the contest and it seemed only a matter of how many points Toulouse would score with him pulling the strings.
For Blair Kinghorn it was happy days on his return to his homeland. But how quickly and dramatically the picture changed as tartan grit turned the tide.
The Scotland fullback’s misery was completed when, with eight minutes left and the tryline beckoning for the British and Irish Lion, Thomas Ramos threw the potential game-tying pass behind him and into touch.