Toulon v Munster: Five takeaways as ‘different beast’ visitors undone by ‘expensively tough call’
Toulon's Zach Mercer competes in the air with Munster's Calvin Nash in a match decided by a late Karl Dickson decision (Pictures by INPHO)
Following a dramatic 27-25 win for Toulon over Munster in their Investec Champions Cup fixture, here’s our five takeaways from the Pool 2 match at Stade Mayol.
The top line
Following on from Saturday evening’s classic in Dublin between European champions Leinster and La Rochelle, another clash featuring former title winners also produced fireworks after a slow-burning opening half that ended 7-6 exploded to life in the second.
The majority of the low-frills opening half took place in between the respective 22s, and a pair of Jack Crowley penalties were eclipsed just before the break by a converted Marius Domon try with Tadhg Beirne stewing in the sin bin.
Before Beirne returned, another converted try was given up on 44 minutes to Ben White, but Munster hit back three minutes later with Ben O’Connor putting in Calvin Nash for the converted score that pegged the gap to 14-13.
In a blink, Toulon pulled clear again when a piece of Gaël Drean magic out of nothing saw him chip Crowley and gather the kick to score a converted try on 50 minutes. Then came a silly Alex Nankivell card, but it was followed by reciprocal silliness from Esteban Abadie, who was also carded.
A 65th-minute penalty kicked by Domon pushed the margin to 24-13, but Munster refused to go away. They had an unconverted try through Jack O’Donoghue, and with Toulon skipper Charles Ollivon carded, Tom Farrell’s 72nd-minute try, converted by JJ Hanrahan, put them 25-24 up.
This Champions Cup match, though, had a debatable 76th-minute denouement with referee Karl Dickson awarding Toulon a breakdown penalty that won’t sit easily with Munster. Domon’s kick left them beaten, but they defiantly held onto their losing bonus point amid further late, late pressure.
Munster player ratings v Toulon: Discipline proves ‘costly’ amid ‘heroic’ efforts
The Dickson influence
Let’s dive straight in: the referee definitely decided the outcome of this one. Yes, Munster’s level of indiscipline was excessive, and it was reflected in a 14-7 penalty count against them, which also featured two yellow cards for each team.
But the decision the English official took in the 75th minute was the winning and losing of this match. Munster had only just gone 25-24 up, but the opportunity to enjoy scoreboard pressure was quickly wrestled away from them.
A combination of Farrell and Jack O’Donoghue did enough to send the ball-carrying Dany Priso to the floor. O’Donoghue was then cleared away by Brian Alainu’uese while Farrell stood watching on as Beirne got in over Priso and took the ball.
Farrell, who was no longer involved in the play, was standing with his back to the side-on watching referee, who penalised him for not clearing the space at the breakdown.
It was an expensively tough call against the Irish player that was in sharp contrast to the decision taken by Dickson’s fellow English official, Matthew Carley, awarding Leinster their winning penalty on Saturday night in Dublin when a La Rochelle player tackled an opponent off his feet.
That was a clear and obvious offence compared to this very opposite, interpretative ruling in Toulon. The feedback Munster will understandably now seek from EPCR ref boss Tony Spreadbury will be interesting.
There were occasions earlier in the half when the referee issued a vocal warning to Munster players before then penalising them, but there was no warning for Farrell, just a shrill blow of the whistle.
England overseas
It’s a weird exercise watching a French pack containing four ex-England players, three who were capped as recently as the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but none of them stood out head and shoulders above the rest in Toulon to show Steve Borthwick what he is potentially missing.
Talisman lock David Ribbans wasn’t his usual effective self, knocking on cheaply when hit by O’Donoghue and then having a first-half try scrubbed out for not getting to his feet after getting tackled by Shane Daly. He was hooked after 57 minutes, when playing the full 80 is a regular thing for him.
Zach Mercer, a player Borthwick shunned after Eddie Jones had advised him to return to the PREM ahead of the World Cup, did top the game’s carry chart thanks to his improved second-half industry, but it didn’t sit well that he made some soft handling skills in the opening period. He is much better than that.
Kyle Sinckler did show his finessed fitness, playing 76 minutes, something he would rarely have done in his England/PREM days, but the Munster scrum was there for the taking, and he didn’t manage this, instead giving them three points with a first-half set-piece infringement.
Lewis Ludlam, meanwhile, just seemed to get lost in the general level of Toulon inefficiency that ultimately denied the home team the bonus point victory they had expected. Munster persistently suffocated the breakdown, and Toulon’s half-pack of English forwards didn’t have immediate answers.
Repeat Munster lessons
No way were Munster going to be as bad as they were nine days ago when they were walloped by Ulster in the United Rugby Championship.
They are traditionally a different beast in the Champions Cup, but as inspiring and defiant as their response was in France, they will still fly into Shannon on Sunday night cursing themselves for not securing the win.
Having won 29-18 at Toulon two years ago, Munster had no fear about going to Mayol, and they showed it by the way they generally got stuck into their task, especially when it involved slowing down the opposition ball.
Their set-piece, though, has been too unreliable all season, and the lineout let them down here. It has to get better.
So too does prop Michael Ala’alatoa. Only he knows what he was thinking when complaining to the referee instead of staying concentrated on the play and not getting left looking foolish by the sweet-footed White, who raced in to score. That was ultimately very costly.
The sin-binning of Beirne also hurt deeply, as Toulon scored two tries in his absence. Having seen how his early yellow devastated them last month in Bath, he had no excuses for getting on the wrong side of the ref here. Some key lessons are not being learned.
The mid-season signing
Unlike football, where the busy January transfer window offers teams an open goal to shake up their rosters, it’s unusual in rugby to see a high-profile mid-season signing.
The French, though, certainly like to do things differently, and it was last month when Toulon decided to bring in Tomas Albornoz on a long-term deal from Benetton in the United Rugby Championship.
The 28-year-old Argentinian international debuted off the bench in the Top 14, catching the eye against Perpignan with a run from his own half and then a cross-kick in the creation of a try.
His first start for his new club will not be much remembered, though. The Toulon attack suffered a case of the jitters during his 27-and-a-half minutes on the pitch before he exited for a head injury assessment after getting illegally clattered by O’Donoghue.
You never like to see anyone injured, but it proved to be a lucky break for the hosts as they were considerably better in the short spell that followed, with Italian international Paolo Garbisi coming on.
Momentum was with them before Albornoz was cleared to return just before the opening try was scored. With Toulon increasing their general level of intensity in the second half, his link play improved and he somehow convinced the sponsor to give him the man of the match award.
However, in the cold light of day, there were still major blemishes in what he contributed. It was his attempted clearance that was charged down by JJ Hanrahan for the O’Donoghue try that revived Munster, and it was his poor decision to go for the line and get held up that ended the match without Toulon securing the four-try bonus point.
It was very much the case of the new guy trying too hard and things just not sticking.