Gloucester v Toulon: Five takeaways in ‘men against boys’ contest as only Frenchmen’s ‘overconfidence’ prevents blowout
Gael Drean scoring try for Toulon v Gloucester and Zach Mercer in action.
Following a 31-14 victory for RC Toulon over Gloucester, here are our five takeaways from the Investec Champions Cup encounter at Kingsholm on Saturday.
The top line
Toulon secured a home game in the round-of-16 and thus eliminated Gloucester by claiming a bonus-point victory over the English strugglers.
The Frenchmen perhaps made it harder than it should have been, after producing a display of utter physical dominance in the first half, but they got the job done and deservedly moved through to the next round.
Pierre Mignoni’s side were superb in the opening period and touched down three times through Gael Drean, Mathis Ferte and Lewis Ludlam, but it was almost a bit too easy for the visitors.
When Tomos Williams crossed the whitewash – following Jack Clement’s earlier try – with just under 15 minutes remaining, the door was left ajar, but Toulon slammed it firmly shut when Drean completed his brace to send them into the knockout stages.
Men against boys
Gloucester went into the encounter with a chance of reaching the knockout stages, but you wouldn’t have thought that was the case watching this game. It perhaps shows the issue with the format that a team as bad as the Cherry and Whites can still be in contention going into the final round.
Toulon are obviously a fine side but Kingsholm used to be a place which opposition teams feared, but that is certainly not the case at the moment. The fans must be credited for remaining so loyal when their team is so poor, with the Frenchmen not having to get out of third gear to overcome the English outfit.
Physically, the hosts were overwhelmed and technically they were bested in every area as Mignoni’s men found it all too easy to break down each facet of the Gloucester game. Only needless Toulon mistakes – perhaps because of overconfidence which derived from their dominance – prevented the visitors from winning by a larger margin.
Zach Mercer’s Gloucester return
In 2023, there was plenty of excitement in the West Country as the Top 14 player of the year arrived at Kingsholm with ambition of reigniting his international career. Mercer had just come off a hugely successful two-year stint at Montpellier but, unfortunately for Gloucester and the player, it wasn’t particularly a happy time for either.
Knowing that England head coach Steve Borthwick was not a fan, the number eight decided to head back to France at the end of the 2024/25 season, with Toulon the beneficiaries. Since then he has established himself in the XV, but this was his first game back at Kingsholm and the supporters made their feelings known.
Boos greeted his every touch and cheers his every mistake. You could say that Mercer was the pantomime villain but it felt more than that given the Cherry and Whites fans’ sheer animosity.
It lessened once the hosts’ chances of qualifying dissipated and the supporters lost their enthusiasm, but they still had time to jeer Mercer when the back-rower was replaced on the hour mark. However, it was ultimately the ex-England man who had the last laugh.
Coaching
Gloucester may have injuries and absentees, while Toulon also brought some of the largest humans you will see to the West Country, but that shouldn’t result in the type of dominance Toulon had in all of the fundamentals.
The visitors have a formidable front-row featuring France and England internationals, and a mammoth engine room in the shape of the gargantuan duo David Ribbans and Brian Alainu’uese, but the Cherry and Whites were hardly lacking in the front five.
Nepo Laulala is a former All Black who earned over 50 caps while Matias Alemanno is verging on a century of appearances for Argentina but, in scrum and lineout, they were quite comfortably bested.
Director of rugby George Skivington, a former lock who was a lineout guru during his playing days, finds himself under pressure following a dreadful first half of the PREM season and you have to say they don’t look a particularly well coached side.
You can’t really question the players’ spirit, who defended manfully in the second period and showed impressive grit to give themselves a semblance of hope in the latter stages, but they are not being given the best tools to succeed.
Toulon’s best chance since…
It has been more than a decade since the ‘galaticos’, assembled by maverick former owner Mourad Boudjellal, won their third successive Champions Cup. In the 10 years that followed that historic feat, they have not really gone close to a fourth title, but they are building nicely under Mignoni.
Bordeaux-Begles and Toulouse remain the standard-bearer in France, and therefore Europe, but this Toulon squad are a well-drilled unit who could conceivably beat the very best on their day. There is not quite the number of global stars they had between 2013 and 2015 but the recruitment has been sensible, and the improvement gradual.
As intimated, the key fundamentals are in place up front, led by the irrepressible Charles Ollivon and the ex-England international workhorses, Kyle Sinckler, Ribbans and Ludlam. Behind the scrum, some of the players aren’t perhaps quite as well known currently, but Oliver Cowie, Marius Domon, Drean and Ferte are fabulous young talents who could well become household names soon enough.