Toulon player ratings: Mixed performances from English duo while ‘exiled’ France star ‘spearheaded’ comeback effort
Toulon player ratings: Kyle Sincler and Tomas Albornoz pictured
Toulon forced a spirited comeback to reach within just five points of victory over Leinster on Saturday, falling at the penultimate European hurdle.
Here are our Toulon ratings from the Investec Champions Cup semi-final match:
Backs
15 Melvyn Jaminet: The exiled France star kicked well and cleaned up some bouncing balls in the first half but did miss a couple of tackles. His second-half performance was spectacular, however, providing real go-forward ball through his elusive running, beating nine players, which almost spearheaded Toulon to victory. 8
14 Gael Drean: Had the ball ripped early on by Caelen Doris, which almost ended in a try. But overall it was a very promising performance, showing electric footwork in attack to beat eight players, including beating the tackle of Sam Prendergast to score the final try. 7
13 Ignacio Brex Juan: Carried hard and true, but struggled to make much of an impact, and was turned over on more than one occasion. 5
12 Jeremy Sinzelle: Offloaded well in the tackle, and clicked with those around him, but failed to open up the opposition defence. 5
11 Setariki Tuicuvu: Looked threatening with ball in hand, but not immune to mistakes – notably carrying the ball into touch in his own 22 and was turned over three times. 4
10 Tomas Albornoz: Once again, the star of Toulon. Under pressure, he was unflappable and displayed a fantastic running game, beating seven defenders for 101 metres. Put in a superb cross-field kick to set up Drean’s try minutes from the end. 8
9 Ben White: Ran the game from nine, sniped when possible, but often his attempts were stifled by the Leinster unit. It was not for a lack of trying, but the floodgate simply would not open for the Scotland scrum-half. 6
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Forwards
8 Mikheili Shioshvili: Was extremely powerful in the carry, running over Henshaw midway through the first half. He also led the tackle stats before being removed somewhat prematurely in the 53rd minute. 7
7 Charles Ollivon: Despite missing three tackles, he ended the game with the most tackles after a defensive-dominated game. Not the all-court display that we’ve come to expect of the French international, but not a bad effort by any means. 6
6 José Junior Kpoku: Never really got into the game. He put in some decent hits but offered very little in attack. 5
5 David Ribbans: Defensively solid, making a couple of dominant tackles, and putting himself about in attack. Also, a key man in a very high-functioning lineout. 7
4 Corentin Mezou: Like his lock partner, he was terrific in the lineout. Elsewhere, however, he was invisible, barely scratching the surface of a match that required the very best from all. 5
3 Kyle Sinckler: Outmuscled in the scrum and a disciplinary liability. He made his tackles when needed but offered very little else. 3
2 Teddy Baubigny: Solid darts in the lineout, and defensively, he was terrific. He knew his job, and it wasn’t to carry the ball. His one major issue was when he gave away a penalty in the second half, which Leinster scored from, and he conceded a yellow card for an illegal hit on Josh van der Flier. 6
1 Jean-Baptiste Gros: Penalised in the scrum early on and knocked on later as Toulon were breaking away. The day never improved for him, getting dominated in the scrum and offering very little elsewhere. 4
Replacements: Zach Mercer made an immediate impact, pirouetting around a couple of defenders before offloading to the onrushing support to put them through a gap. Baptiste Serin was brought on with 30 minutes to go and showed real zip and character, scoring with 10 minutes to go. Shortly after, he put in a brilliant pass to keep the move alive as Toulon brought themselves back to within four points. As a whole, the bench shored up the foundation and reignited the fire within the French ranks. 7