Preview: Toulouse v Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues head to south-west France this weekend knowing they are rank underdogs for Sunday's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Toulouse at the Stade Municipal.
Cardiff Blues head to south-west France this weekend knowing they are rank underdogs for Sunday's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Toulouse at the Stade Municipal.
It is hardly surprising when you look at the bigger picture. The Blues have a squad full of top-class players, but it pales into insignificance compared to Guy Novès star-studded squad.
Then there is the sides' contrasting histories in this tournament, Toulouse the three-times winners and Cardiff Blues the one time runners-up (under their old guise of Cardiff RFC).
What's more Toulouse are at home, where they have lost just six times in their European history, whilst the Blues only have the one European victory in France – that is one win in France in thirteen years.
The task at hand then could be considered a daunting one for the Blues, although that is not how their Director of Rugby, Dai Young, sees it.
“We are very respectful of what they can do, but are concentrating on ourselves,” said Young.
“We've got to go out there and not sit back and not try to lose the game. We've got to go out there and try to win it by taking the game to them.
“We've got to go over there and throw caution to the wind and try to express ourselves. We need a little bit of luck as every team does, but it's a challenge we are running towards not away from.”
On the back of the 20-0 win over Edinburgh last weekend Dai Young has named an unchanged starting XV, which includes former Toulouse favourite Gareth Thomas. Thomas, who spent three seasons with Toulouse, won the Heineken Cup with them in 2005.
With Nicky Robinson fit again the big debate has been centred around the fly-half jersey. Despite Robinson being the senior candidate Young has kept faith in Dai Flanagan, who impressed so much in the Pool stages. It remains to be seen if he can repeat his heroics from the Stade Français victory.
One thing is for sure, Flanagan will be surrounded by experience. With Jason Spice and Xavier Rush on his inside and Gareth Thomas and Tom Shanklin on his outside there will be plenty of experience to draw on when the going gets tough – as at some stage you can guarantee it will.
Dai Young has made a point of emphasising the impact his senior players have on the side, and if they are to advance to the semi-finals the likes of Rush, Gethin Jenkins, Gareth Thomas and Ben Blair will have to be at their brilliant best. Anything less and Toulouse could make the Blues look very ordinary.
That said the home side can be temperamental, despite boasting a team full of international stars. That much was evident when they struggled to a 12-6 victory over Biarritz last week, but on the other hand they have the ability to turn on the flair and leave teams for dead.
A concern for Guy Novès will be his side's defence in Europe, as whilst they have the ability to score points at will they can also haemorrhage them just as quickly.
The Scarlets and Leinster, in the past two seasons, have both travelled to France and left with forty-plus point victories under their belts. If Novès thinks Cardiff Blues will be any less of a threat then he is sorely mistaken.
The side selected is as close to full strength as possible and includes two of France's most dangerous attacking players, Cédric Heymans and Vincent Clerc. As expected Jean-Baptiste Elissalde will start at fly-half to accommodate Byron Kelleher at scrum-half.
It is a half-back pairing that has struggled to fire at times this season but both players have class and if the fluidity is there on Sunday the Blues could be left chasing shadows. Although Martyn Williams will relish the chance of getting to grips with both Kelleher and Elissalde.
Form: Cardiff Blues advanced from their Pool with four wins, one defeat and a draw to their names, whilst Toulouse recorded four wins and two defeats. Since the climax of the Pool stages it has been domestic action all the way for both sides. The Blues have had mixed fortunes, winning two and losing two Рthe defeats ending their Magners League ambitions. However their most recent game ended in a 20-0 victory over Edinburgh. Toulouse, who are sitting pretty at the top of the Top 14 standings, beat Biarritz last time, but went down to a 29-0 drubbing at the hands of Stade Fran̤ais the week before. Both sides have conceded seven tries and seventy-six points to date in this season's Heineken Cup, and home advantage goes to Toulouse by virtue of the one extra try they have scored.
Head-to-head: With both sides boasting a wealth of international experience their will be several mouth-watering clashes in store. However we have gone for that between the two fly-halves. Toulouse have gone with Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, a scrum-half by trade, whilst the Blues have kept faith in Dai Flanagan. Flanagan has grown in stature as the season has gone on and his exploits against Stade Français will give him added confidence. He will be up against a tricky customer in Elissalde, who despite playing out of position will be a handful.
Prediction: When all the facts and figures are taken into account it is hard to see anything but a home win. The Blues will not go down without a fight, but Toulouse will have a little too much for them. Toulouse by eight points.
The Teams:
Toulouse: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Maleli Kunavore, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Shaun Sowerby, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Fabien Pelous (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 2 William Servat, 1 Daan Human.
Replacements: 16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Romain Millo-Chlusky, 19 Jean Bouilhou, 20 Valentin Courrent, 21 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 22 Grégory Lamboley.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Jamie Roberts, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gareth Thomas, 11 Tom James, 10 Dai Flanagan, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Mamma Molitika, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 John Yapp, 17 T Rhys Thomas, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Ben White, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Jamie Robinson.
Date: Sunday 6 April, 2008
Kick-off: 16:00 CET 14:00 GMT
Venue: Stade Municipal
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: Chris White (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official: Geoff Warren (England)