Toulon v Saracens: Winners and losers as Argentina star’s ‘rollercoaster’ sums up ridiculous contest while All Black’s ‘brutality’ sets the tone

Following Toulon’s incredible 72-42 victory over Saracens in the Investec Champions Cup, here are our winners and losers from a remarkable game at the Stade Mayol.

Winners

Theo Dan

A statement performance from the England international in the absence of Jamie George. Theo Dan rose to the challenge that the Stade Mayol poses and put in a starring shift with sensational runs with the ball in hand and did not slack on defence.

His rampaging run and stunning offload to send Ivan van Zyl charging through was simply outrageous while he played his part in an effective set-piece performance against a mammoth Toulon pack.

He has played second fiddle to the likes of George and Luke Cowan-Dickie for England but, free of the veteran hookers today, the rising star showed what he is capable of and made a statement on intent for the July internationals.

Facundo Isa

To say that Facundo Isa had a rollercoaster of a match would be an egregious understatement. The Pumas star had a nightmarish start to the game as he was directly at fault for two tries.

The first, he failed to catch a rather straightforward pass albeit in a risky position. He made the rookie error of looking up at the on-rushing defender, Nick Tompkins, instead of securing position first and his fellow countryman Juan Martin Gonzalez pounced for an easy score.

Isa then went to work to right his wrongs but again made a costly error when he won a turnover near his own line and instead of diving on the ball and securing possession, he tried to pop it up to a teammate but only found grass. Again, Gonzalez was on hand to punish Isa.

Things started to turn for the loose forward before the half-time break as he barrelled over the line for the first of his three tries. He grabbed the other two in the second half as Toulon launched a comeback and effectively took control of the match with the number eight central to their efforts.

Baptiste Serin

Every time Toulon play, we are reminded just how blessed France are with scrum-half depth with Baptiste Serin producing blinder after blinder and today was no different.

Ben White got the nod for the starting role, an understandable decision considering his recent form, but Serin’s introduction into proceedings was nothing shy of game-changing. He upped the tempo of the Toulon attack while adding his trademark flair, moments of brilliance and sheer rugby genius.

It’s a shame that his biggest crime is that his name is not Antoine Dupont when it comes to the French national team but, with the skipper bound to miss the tour to New Zealand, the All Blacks could still face a world-class number nine in the form Serin depending on how far Toulon progress in the Top 14.

A magician who weaved his magic to put Saracens to the sword.

Juan Martin Gonzalez

The Argentine is regarded as one of the best loose forwards in the world and he showed precisely why today. He grabbed a superb double punishing his fellow countryman for his errors.

It wasn’t just his try-scoring antics that caught the eye as he topped the tackle count for the Premiership club and pitched in with a turnover. He was relentless from minute one to 80 making his mark on both sides of the ball and in the lineouts.

Leicester Fainga’anuku

Had very little influence early on but his sheer physicality was absolutely crucial for Toulon coming back into the contest. The All Black is returning home at the end of the season but he has left a lasting impression during his time in France, and he certainly made a mark on Saracens.

Although the hosts played some wonderful rugby in their comeback, the tone for their epic response was down to the brutality of their sizeable units, with Fainga’anuku very much to the fore. He was incredibly useful off first phase and laid the platform for their thrilling attacks, while his handling skills brought their dangerous back three into the game.

Toulon’s powerhouse locks

David Ribbans was one of their better players in the opening half-hour but, once he was joined by Brian Alainu’uese, those two dovetailed superbly. Ribbans brought all his lineout skills, with one take particularly astonishing, but he is also a huge unit and got Toulon rumbling over the gain line.

Alainu’uese was even more effective in that regard and his ability to break tackles and get his arms free to keep that attack moving was absolutely key in keeping the ball alive and putting the opposition defence under more duress.

Replacement props

It was not a good day for the Toulon starters, with France and England internationals Jean-Baptiste Gros and Kyle Sinckler struggling in the set-piece, but Dany Priso and Beka Gigashvili changed that around in the second period.

Priso and Gigashvili got the edge on the Saracens front-row to alter the momentum as the French outfit imposed their physically on the visitors. Both also contributed plenty in the loose, with the latter a big call carrier and the latter an influence in defence.

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Losers

Kyle Sinckler

Much of the noise about who Andy Farrell could pick for the British and Irish Lions has centred around the likes of Courtney Lawes, Jack Willis, Blair Kinghorn and Owen Farrell. However, Kyle Sinckler will still be fancying his chances of cracking the nod.

But he didn’t make a great fist of impressing against Saracens as for much of his time on the field, he was put into reverse by Fijian international Eroni Mawi.

Sinckler would tick a lot of boxes for Farrell with his excellent open play capabilities but first and foremost, a tighthead prop needs to be an astute scrummager and in that facet of the game, the ex-England regular did not impress.

Ivan van Zyl

Tasked with captaining a Saracens outfit void of their England stars, Ivan van Zyl enjoyed a fine start to the game, playing a pivotal role in Saracens racing into a commanding 35-13 lead after 32 minutes and scoring one of the tries himself.

However, he made a costly error that swung momentum into the hosts’ favour when he threw a pass that was easily picked off and allowed Toulon a route back into the game which the French outfit ruthlessly capitalised on. Pierre Mignoni’s charges would score another try following that intercept and closed the gap to 27-35 at half-time.

Mark McCall

You just wonder what Saracens could have achieved with their England players involved. It was evidently not a poor starting XV, with the Premiership outfit producing a blistering performance in the first 30 minutes, but their lack of depth and leadership told.

Once Toulon started to get a rumble on, Sarries’ limitations were exposed and their bench simply could not match the impact of the hosts. If Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Ben Earl, Tom Willis and Elliot Daly had been involved, giving them a much stronger 23, it could have been a different story after the break.

In some ways, there is plenty that the visitors can take away from this match, but 70 points is still rather embarrassing and it could have a negative impact on the team going forward. McCall may think his decision to rest his England stars has been justified, but it could well backfire when the Premiership resumes in a couple of weeks.

Saracens’ bench

Following on from the previous point, there was simply not the same amount of quality on the Saracens bench and it showed. You looked at the two XVs and some might have thought a shock was still possible, but rugby is a 23-person game and that theory was rather brutally demonstrated on Saturday.

In any other clash, when Sarries have their best 23 out there, McCall would have no doubt made substitutions when Toulon were beginning to get ahead of steam, but he was reluctant at the Stade Mayol and their lack of depth was exposed.

Toulon

Toulon’s reward for a 10-try, 72-42 trashing of the most successful Champions Cup team in the last decade is more than likely to be a meeting with title favourites and defending champions, Toulouse.

There is always a chance that Sale Sharks could claim a mighty upset on Sunday but it is highly unlikely, meaning that Toulon have the incredibly difficult task of knocking over the brilliant Toulouse if they are to progress further.

The defending champions are without their inspirational captain, Dupont, but have been dominant even when he has not been on the pitch this season.

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